Supreme Court Declines Relief To Meenakshi Natarajan In Rajya Sabha Nomination Case

New Delhi, June 12: The Supreme Court has declined to intervene in the rejection of Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan‘s Rajya Sabha nomination, stating that courts generally cannot interfere in the election process at this stage.

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A Bench comprising Justice P. K. Mishra and Justice A. S. Chandurkar dismissed her petition challenging the Election Commission’s decision.

The case arose after election authorities rejected Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination, citing the non disclosure of details related to a criminal case registered in Telangana in her affidavit.

During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the petitioner, argued that candidates are required to disclose only those criminal cases that carry a possible punishment of two years or more.

He submitted that in the present case only summons had been issued and contended that the Returning Officer had wrongly rejected the nomination.

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However, the Bench observed that it could not directly interfere with the rejection of a nomination during the ongoing election process. The judges indicated that any challenge would have to follow the legal remedies available under election law.

The court also noted that if there were precedents supporting the petitioner’s arguments, they should be brought to its attention.

According to election authorities, Returning Officer Arvind Sharma found that details of the Telangana case were not included in the Form 26 affidavit submitted by Meenakshi Natarajan.

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The issue was reportedly raised through an objection filed by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat.

Meanwhile, Jitu Patwari criticized the rejection of Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination and expressed the Congress party’s opposition to the decision.

The development marks a setback for the Congress leader ahead of the Rajya Sabha election process.