SC to hear Natarajan’s plea against rejection of RS candidature on Friday
A vacation bench questioned maintainability of petition mid-election, advising an election petition is the proper recourse for alleged 'wrongful rejection
The Supreme Court will on Friday (June 12) hear Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan's plea against the rejection of her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh.
Elections for the three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh is set to be held on June 18.
A partial working day (PWD) bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar, however, also asked how the petition was maintainable in the midst of the ongoing electoral process.
'Wrongly rejected'
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Natarajan, urged the bench to consider the unlisted mentioning of her plea on the ground that the nomination paper was wrongly rejected by the returning officer citing alleged non-disclosure of a criminal case under the Representation of People Act.
Singhvi argued that a candidate is supposed to disclose a criminal case which provides for a minimum sentence of two years and, in the present matter, only summons were issued. “Is this maintainable,” Justice Mishra asked, adding that the proper recourse is to file an election petition.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the Election Commisison, opposed the mentioning of the plea and said the poll panel was not served with the copy of the petition. “List it tomorrow subject to clearing of defects,” the bench said.
Nomination rejected
Events took a dramatic turn on Tuesday (June 9) when Natarajan's nomination was rejected on charges of concealing information in the affidavit.
An order issued by Rajya Sabha Election Returning Officer Arvind Sharma stated that after examining the available documents, it was found that Natarajan had submitted an incomplete affidavit, omitting a court complaint in Form 26 submitted with her nomination.
According to a Madhya Pradesh assembly official, the ruling BJP candidate, Mahesh Kewat, filed a complaint with the returning officer alleging that Natarajan had not mentioned in her affidavit a case registered against her in Telangana. June 8 was the last date for filing nominations and scrutiny of papers began on Tuesday.
However, Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against the rejection of her nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh.
(With agency inputs)