Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan has moved Supreme Court challenging the rejection of her nomination for Rajya Sabha elections, legal news website LiveLaw said.
This comes a day after a ten-member Congress delegation met with the Election Commission in New Delhi over the rejection of party Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination from Madhya Pradesh.
The petition alleges that the Returning Officer acted illegally, arbitrarily and with bias. Supreme court agreed to hear the plea on Friday, 12 June.
On Wednesday, Congress MP and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged that the Returning Officer's decision to reject the nomination of Natarajan is "perverse" and contrary to the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, as the criminal matter against the Congress candidate has not even reached the stage of cognisance.
Shingvi argued that the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan had been rejected at a stage far earlier than what the law requires for disclosure.
Congress saw the rejection of nomination papers as a "political conspiracy" to secure all three Rajya Sabha seats for the BJP, while the ruling party questioned Natarajan over the non-disclosure of relevant information.
Natarajan said she continues to have faith in India's constitutional institutions and democratic processes and will fight the battle.
"We still have full hope in constitutional institutions, and that's why we are fighting this battle. The Election Commission has heard our case today, and now we are waiting. We are in our fight. We still believe, somewhere or other, that some form of democratic integrity remains in a democracy," Natarajan said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, whose formal complaint to the Returning Officer over non-disclosure of the case derailed Natarajan's Rajya Sabha dreams, called Congress out over levelling accusations against the Election Commission.
BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the case against Natarajan originated from a complaint filed by a female Congress worker in Telangana against a state-level party leader, alleging exploitation and inappropriate behaviour.
“It is quite clear that a case was pending against the Congress candidate, Meenakshi Natarajan, in a Telangana court. It was a case filed by a female Congress worker from Telangana against a Congress leader from the same state, alleging exploitation and inappropriate behaviour; in her complaint, she had also named the Congress candidate- who was the leader in charge--in connection with the matter. From a legal standpoint, every candidate is required to disclose information regarding any case pending against them,” Trivedi said.
With Natarajan's nomination cancelled, all three Bharatiya Janata Party candidates from Madhya Pradesh – Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Agarwal and Mahesh Kewat--are set to enter the Rajya Sabha unopposed.
