The Manipur High Court declared Naga People’s Front MP Lorho S Pfoze’s election to Lok Sabha as ‘null and void’ on Friday.

A single bench comprising Justice MV Muralidaran made the declaration after three years he was elected.

The court further declared that the petitioner in the case, BJP’s Houlim Shokhopao Mate was ‘duly elected’ to represent the Outer Manipur constituency.

The judge said, “The claim of the petitioner to declare him an elected member cannot be denied for the reason that among all the candidates contested, the petitioner secured the highest votes after the first respondent.”

Notably, Mate filed an election petition in the court in 2019 claiming that an affidavit filed by Pfoze, during the 2019 election process had ‘many defects, errors and was incomplete.’

Mate also claimed that Pfoze did not comply with the prescribed format of an affidavit that was filed along with his nomination papers.