Rajya Sabha Row: Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Natarajan's Petition On June 12

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Supreme Court (SC) will hear on Friday a plea filed by Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan challenging the rejection of her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh.

SC Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha confirmed the development to The Free Press Journal newspaper, saying that the court would take up the matter on Friday.

SC Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi filed the petition on Thursday. However, the SC raised the issue of maintainability of the petition but agreed to hear the matter on his request. The petitioner further argued that the Telangana matter was only a pre-cognisance notice on a private complaint and did not legally qualify as a "pending criminal case" requiring mandatory disclosure.

Besides, the SC declined to grant interim relief to stop the Rajya Sabha (RS) election process or declaration of results in the state. A bench comprising Justice PK Mishra and Justice AS Chandurkar refused to issue a stay but agreed to schedule a full hearing to review the rejection of Natarajan's nomination papers.

Natarajan's candidature was rejected by the returning officer on Tuesday over the alleged non-disclosure of a case pending before a court in Hyderabad. The objection was raised by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, who is contesting the third Rajya Sabha seat.

Acting on the complaint, Rajya Sabha Election Returning Officer Arvind Sharma ruled that Natarajan had submitted an incomplete affidavit by failing to disclose a court complaint in Form 26 filed along with her nomination papers.