The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan’s plea challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh, holding that courts cannot interrupt an ongoing election process and that her remedy lies in filing an election petition.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar held that the settled legal position bars judicial interference during the conduct of elections and rejected Natarajan’s attempt to invoke the court’s jurisdiction at this stage.
The court noted that the Returning Officer had rejected Natarajan’s nomination on the ground that she had filed an incomplete Form 26 affidavit and failed to disclose a pending complaint case against her.
The Returning Officer’s order also recorded that Natarajan had filed written submissions in the complaint proceedings and therefore had knowledge of the case.
The bench further noted that Natarajan had approached the Election Commission against the Returning Officer’s decision and had filed a written representation.
She had also argued her case in person before the full Election Commission on June 10, but no order was passed on her representation.
Appearing for Natarajan, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the bar under Article 329(b) of the Constitution was not attracted because the petition sought to ensure a fair and transparent election process and was not intended to obstruct the election.
