SC rejects Congress's Meenakshi Natarajan's plea on Rajya Sabha nomination
What's the story
The Supreme Court has dismissed Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan's petition challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh. The court ruled that judicial intervention in an ongoing election process is not permissible under established legal principles. A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar observed that Natarajan's remedy lies in filing an election petition after the conclusion of the electoral process, India Today reported.
Nomination rejection
No order passed on her representation: Court
The Returning Officer had rejected Natarajan's nomination for not disclosing a pending complaint case in her Form 26 affidavit. The court noted that she was aware of the case as she had filed written submissions in the complaint proceedings. Despite approaching the Election Commission of India and making a representation on June 10, no order was passed on her representation.
Legal arguments
Article 329(b) of Constitution does not bar petition: Natarajan's counsel
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Natarajan, argued that Article 329(b) of the Constitution did not bar the petition as it sought a fair election process. He contended that rejection was illegal since no cognizance was taken in the complaint case. However, the court rejected this argument, stating that accepting such a contention would require courts to create distinctions between different cases of nomination rejection.
Information disclosure
Natarajan denied allegations
Natarajan has denied allegations of concealing information in her Rajya Sabha nomination papers' Form 26. She claimed that the form requires details like political affiliation, electoral roll particulars, contact information, PAN and income tax details, assets and liabilities, pending criminal cases, and criminal convictions. "There was no column in Form 26 requiring the disclosure of a private complaint," she said, adding that if such a requirement were to exist, she would have furnished the information.