The Supreme Court on Friday observed that once a candidate’s nomination is rejected by the returning officer, the appropriate remedy lies with the Election Commission, as it heard a plea filed by Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar questioned whether the top court had ever interfered at such a stage, noting that judicial intervention is generally not warranted after rejection of nomination papers. The court asked the petitioner to cite any precedent supporting her plea.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Natarajan, argued that the rejection was improper as the alleged criminal case against her did not meet the threshold requiring disclosure under election rules. He maintained that only summons had been issued in the matter.
The dispute arose after the returning officer rejected Natarajan’s nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, citing alleged non-disclosure of a criminal case in her affidavit submitted under Form 26.
Officials stated that the complaint was raised by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, who alleged that details of a case registered in Telangana were not disclosed.
The case will continue as the court examines whether any legal grounds exist for intervention at this stage of the electoral process.
