The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday cancelled the election of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and state Cabinet minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama on grounds of malpractice and manipulation, PTI reported. Chudasama had won from Dholka constituency in Ahmedabad by a margin of 327 votes in 2017.

Chudasama currently holds education, law and justice, legislative and parliamentary affairs, and some other departments in the Vijay Rupani-led government.

The court cancelled Chudasama’s election in an order passed on a petition by his opponent, Congress candidate Ashwin Rathod. In his petition, Rathod alleged that Chudasama indulged in corrupt practices and violated “many of the mandatory instructions of the Election Commission” at various stages of the election process, especially during the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in 2017.

Rathod added that the returning officer had manipulated the counting process, giving his opponent an unfair lead over him. He also demanded a re-verification of 429 postal ballots.

During the hearing, Justice Paresh Upadhyay noted that Chudasama was complicit with the returning officer, who deliberately avoided the counting of postal ballots, and rejected his lawyers’ request to stay the order, according to The Times of India. He also rebuked them over the BJP leader’s reference to the High Court as ‘partisan’ in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

The court’s action against Chudasama, a sitting minister, is a rare move. He has the option to move the top court against the order.