The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan challenging the rejection of her nomination for the Rajya Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh has elections for three Rajya Sabha seats. While the BJP fielded three candidates, the Congress nominated Natarajan. BJP candidate Mahesh Kevat complained that she had not disclosed a pending case in a Telangana court.
Based on the complaint, the returning officer rejected Natarajan’s nomination, citing the legal requirement that candidates must declare pending criminal cases in their affidavit.
The Congress approached the Election Commission against the returning officer’s decision, but the Commission declined to intervene, stating the action was lawful. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi argued the matter for Natarajan before the Supreme Court.
However, the court said such disputes should be pursued through an election petition after the election, and declined to entertain the plea, dismissing it.
