By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Big relief from Supreme Court to Deputy Chief Minister K.V. Singhdeo.Supreme court issued a stay order on Patnagarh election case.Interim ban imposed on all proceedings in Odisha High Court. Supreme Court’s notice to defeated candidate Saroj Meher; order to submit reply within 4 weeks.
K.V. Singhdeo appointed SLP challenging the order of High Court.The next hearing of the case is likely to be held on the coming March 13.
Supreme Court has issued an order on the election application pending in Odisha High Court challenging the election of Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo from Patnagarh assembly constituency.
The Khandapitha formed against Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta has issued a notice to the opposition Saroj Kumar Meher in this case and ordered to submit a reply within four weeks.
The court said in its order, “Let the notice be issued, which will be refundable within four weeks. During this time, the number of election applications pending in the High Court will be adjourned. ”
Singhdeo filed this Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the order of Odisha High Court on 28th November 2025. On its order, the High Court dismissed the interim application (I.A. No. 31/2025) filed by Singhdeo according to Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC).
Singhdeo requested to reject this election application at the primary level. He had argued that the petition filed by defeated BJD candidate Saroj Kumar Meher had no solid basis for the case and had failed to fulfill the legislative requirements of the ‘People’s Representatives Act, 1951’.
This dispute is related to the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, where Singhdeo won from Patnagarh seat. Next time Meher challenged his election. He alleged that Singhdeo did not provide complete details about his property and criminal background in the nomination papers (Form 26).
On February 9, 2026, Odisha High Court’s Justice Anand Chandra Behera Meher accepted an application of Odisha High Court and gave permission to ask for basic election documents including nomination papers and expenses calculation from Bolangir District Election Officer and Collector.
The High Court pointed out that trial for allegations of “corrupt conduct” and “violation of law” is required and it cannot be dismissed in the primary stage. The Deputy Chief Minister went to the Supreme Court dissatisfied after the High Court refused to dismiss the application and ordered the collection of evidence.
Senior lawyer S.B. Upadhyay argued on behalf of Singhdeo that this election application is “baseless” and does not meet the binding conditions of law. He had said that the High Court made a mistake by not rejecting this plea as per Order VII Rule 11 of CPC. Lawyer Shreya Kapoor represented opposition Saroj Kumar Meher in front of Khandapitha. The possible date for the next hearing of this case is scheduled for March 13, 2026.
