Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has served a notice to Union Minister Pratap Chandra Sarangi while hearing a petition challenging his election from Balasore Lok Sabha seat during general polls in 2019.

During a preliminary hearing on a petition filed by Mahammad Sahirulhak@Haque, a resident of Chandipur and voter of Balasore on Friday, a single judge bench of Justice SK Sahoo also issued notices to all the candidates who had contested the 2019 polls from Balasore Lok Sabha seat. The court has fixed March 13 as next date of hearing on the case.

In his petition filed on July 8, 2019, Haque challenged the election of Sarangi claiming that the latter had not declared detailed and correct information about assets and criminal cases pending against him. The petitioner also urged the court to declare the election of Sarangi as void.

Worth mentioning, Sarangi had defeated BJD’s Rabindra Jena by a margin of 12,956 votes in the 2019 polls. Nabajyoti Patnaik from Congress and nine other candidates had also contested for the seat.