Supreme Court dismisses plea of former BSF jawan challenging EC’s decision
On 29 April was fielded by the Samajwadi Party as its candidate from the Varanasi seatIn his plea, Tej Bahadur termed the decision of the poll panel discriminatory and unreasonable and had said it should be set aside
NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the plea filed by former BSF jawan Lok S challenging the Election Commission’s decision to reject his nomination papers from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.
“We don’t find any merit to entertain this petition, hence dismissed," said the Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjee Khanna.
On 29 April, Tej Bahadur, who was dismissed from service in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to troops, was fielded by the Samajwadi Party as its candidate from the Varanasi seat. On May 1, the EC rejected his nomination on the ground that "the nomination paper is neither accompanied by certificate issued in the prescribed manner by the Election Commission to the effect that he has not been dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the state."
The ex-BSF jawan had then approached the apex court challenging the decision of EC. In his plea, Tej Bahadur termed the decision of the poll panel discriminatory and unreasonable and had said it should be set aside.
On 8 May, the Supreme Court asked the EC look into the grievances and petition filed by Tej Bahadur.
Today, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Tej Bahadur, argued that he was dismissed from the service only on grounds of indiscipline since he did not agree to eat the food which according to him was inedible.
Senior Counsel Rajesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, apprised the apex court of certain Supreme Court judgments while arguing that election nomination cannot be filed during the polls and can only be filed once the elections end or the purpose of the electoral process gets vitiated.
Subsequently Bhushan, requested the court to allow him to file an election petition once the elections is over.
"We have done what we could have done. We find no ground to entertain this petition further," said Gogoi before moving to the next case.
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