SC upholds EC's decision, says ex-BSF jawan Tej Bahadur can't contest against Modi in Varanasi

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, "we do not find any grounds to entertain the plea of Yadav".

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Yadav, said, as per earlier verdict of the apex court, the election petition can be filed during enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct.

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, also referred to various apex court judgments and said election petitions can only be filed after polls are over as it would vitiate the electoral process.

At the fag end of the hearing, Bhushan sought liberty from the court to file an election petition after polling is over.

"We have done what we could have done. We find no grounds to entertain this petition," the court said.

Yadav, who was dismissed 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. Prime Minister Narenda Modi is contesting from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.

Yadav, in his plea, had termed the decision of the poll panel discriminatory and unreasonable and had said it should be set aside.