The Supreme Court will hear Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan’s plea on Friday against the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar questioned the maintainability of the petition during the ongoing electoral process but agreed to list the matter subject to clearing defects.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Natarajan, argued that her nomination was wrongly rejected by the returning officer on the grounds of alleged non‑disclosure of a criminal case. He maintained that only cases carrying a minimum sentence of two years require disclosure, while in this matter, only summons were issued.
Returning Officer Arvind Sharma had ruled that Natarajan submitted an incomplete affidavit, omitting details of a case registered in Telangana. BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat filed the complaint that led to the rejection.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the Election Commission, opposed the plea, stating that the poll panel had not received a copy of the petition. The bench directed that the matter be listed on June 12 after the defects are cleared.
