Setback for Congress; SC dismisses Meenakshi Natarajan’s plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea filed by Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan against the rejection of her nomination to contest the Rajya Sabha elections from Madhya Pradesh. The apex court said the court cannot interfere with the ongoing election process. The plea was heard by a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar.

The court pointed that relief cannot be given to such complaints and that a solution can be sought only through election petitions after the election is over. The court also clarified that if a plea to contest the election is rejected, then should approach the election commission. The court also asked the petitioner's lawyer whether there has been a situation in which the Supreme Court has intervened in cases where nomination papers were rejected before.

The returning officer rejected Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination on the grounds that she had concealed information about criminal cases in her name in the affidavit. However, advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Meenakshi, argued that since no charge sheet has been filed or action has been taken, the same need not be disclosed in the affidavit. The lawyer argued that they had approached the court not to disrupt the election but to ensure a transparent election. However, the court insisted that it could not interfere in the plea now as the results have been declared.