Once nomination is rejected, remedy is to approach EC: SC tells Meenakshi Natarajan

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said once nomination of a candidate is rejected by the returning officer, the only remedy is to approach the Election Commission as it heard Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan's plea challenging rejection of her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls.

The court also asked Natarajan to show any judgement passed by the it where it has interfered in such cases.

A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar said, "However erroneous the decision may be, once a nomination is rejected, the remedy ordinarily lies elsewhere. Is there any judgment of this Court where we have interfered at that stage?

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Natarajan, submitted that a candidate is supposed to disclose a criminal case which provides for a minimum sentence of two years and, in the present matter, only summons were issued.

He said the nomination paper for the Rajya Sabha poll in Madhya Pradesh was wrongly rejected by the returning officer citing alleged non-disclosure of a criminal case under the Representation of People Act.

An order by the Rajya Sabha Election Returning Officer Arvind Sharma stated that it was found after examining available documents that Natarajan submitted an incomplete affidavit, omitting a court complaint in Form 26 submitted with her nomination.

According to a Madhya Pradesh assembly official, the ruling BJP candidate, Mahesh Kewat, filed a complaint with the returning officer alleging that Natarajan had not mentioned in her affidavit a case registered against her in Telangana.