Kathmandu, May 4:

The Constituent Assembly Election Court today registered a case challenging Tarai Madhes Democratic Party leader Hridayesh Tripathi’s election from Nawalparasi-6.

The case was filed by a Nepali Congress leader, the nearest rival to Tripathi, Dev Karan Kalwar.

Also today, the Nepali Congress leader and Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, in response to the court’s show cause notice, submitted a written explanation to the court claiming that the charge against him that he won the constituent assembly election from a Nuwakot constituency by unfair means is baseless.

His nearest rival, Maoist leader Hit Bahadur Tamang had challenged Mahat’s victory.

A three-member bench of justices Anup Raj Sharma, Top Bahadur Magar and Ram Kumar Prasad Shaha has been examining the cases in the court .

The law has a provision that the Constituent Assembly Court will have to deliver its verdict within three months after receiving written explanations from all defendants.

Earlier, the court had issued an interlocutary order staying the election of Sarad Singh Bhandari.

Other candidates whose election has been challenged include Ramesh Rijal of Nepali Congress, Pradhumna Prasad Chauhan of CPN-UML, Nepal Sadbhawana Party’s Khovari Raya and Saroj Yadav.