Ranchi, Oct 24 (IANS): Gangster Aman Sahu has been barred from contesting the Jharkhand Assembly elections after both the Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh High Courts rejected his petitions seeking permission to enter the electoral fray.

Sahu, facing over 150 criminal cases across several states, is currently in custody.

He was moved from Jharkhand's Saraikela jail to Raipur, Chhattisgarh, on October 14 on a production warrant.

He is currently being interrogated by Raipur Police in connection with crimes in Chhattisgarh.

Aman Sahu’s legal team, led by advocate Hemant Kumar Sikarwar, had petitioned the Jharkhand High Court to allow Sahu to contest from the Barkagaon assembly seat in Hazaribagh district. They requested a stay on his sentence, citing the case of former Ramgarh MLA Mamta Devi, whose sentence was recently stayed.

The court, however, rejected Aman Sahu’s petition, noting that over 100 criminal cases are pending against him. It ruled that Sahu’s situation was not comparable to that of Mamta Devi, giving reference to a Supreme Court decision that supported the rejection of the plea.

Sahu had also approached the Chhattisgarh High Court, asking to be transferred back to Jharkhand to file his nomination papers. His request was rejected by a single bench led by Justice Sachin Singh Rajput on Tuesday.

Aman Sahu was earlier sentenced by the court to six years in a criminal case in Ramgarh and three years in a case in Latehar. He has served the full sentence in the Latehar case, while he is serving the sentence in the Ramgarh case.

Jharkhand is going to polls in two phases -- the first phase election will be held on November 13 and the second phase on November 20, with counting of votes scheduled for November 23. In the first phase, elections will be held in 43 constituencies while in the second phase, 38 seats will go to polls out of a total of 81 seats in the state.