Did the Supreme Court reject Meenakshi Natarajan’s petition only because of the rules of the election process? Was the allegation of hiding information in Form 26 the real reason for cancellation of nomination? Will complete stoppage of court interference in the election process create big controversies in the future? Is election petition the only legal option left for Natarajan now?
Meenakshi Natarajan Supreme Court Case: There was a stir in the country’s politics when senior Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh Meenakshi Natarajan got a blow from the country’s biggest court, which even the Congress camp itself had not expected. After her nomination was canceled at the last minute of Rajya Sabha elections, Natarajan had approached the Supreme Court seeking justice. But whatever happened inside the court room on Friday, not only put a big break on Natarajan’s political journey, but also created a new suspense in the electoral field.
Scroll to load tweet…
Scroll to load tweet…
That hidden page of Form 26: What was hidden in the affidavit?
This entire political drama started when the Returning Officer (RO) suddenly rejected the Rajya Sabha nomination papers of Meenakshi Natarajan. There was a reason behind this which surprised everyone. In fact, Natarajan had left the ‘Form 26’ affidavit to be filed with his nomination incomplete. He was accused of deliberately hiding information about a criminal complaint case pending against him in Telangana. The surprising thing was that Natarajan was not unaware of the matter; He had also previously filed written documents in response to that complaint. Despite this, the absence of this information in the main election affidavit became the biggest trap for him, in which his candidature got completely trapped.
Scroll to load tweet…
Courtroom’s high-voltage drama: Singhvi’s arguments and Election Commission’s counterattack
When the case reached the Supreme Court bench (Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar), the courtroom turned into a battlefield. Country’s veteran lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi took charge on behalf of Natarajan. Singhvi argued in the court that the court has not yet taken cognizance of the case on the basis of which the nomination has been cancelled, nor have charges been framed. Citing some old decisions, he said that “in extraordinary circumstances, the court should intervene, so that the elections can be fair.” On the other hand, the Election Commission and the lawyers of the respondents strongly opposed it. He said in clear words that contesting elections is not a fundamental right, but a legal right. If the nomination is cancelled, its decision can be taken only through ‘Election Petition’ after the election process is over and not in between.
Scroll to load tweet…
That unbreakable rule of the Constitution: Strict prohibition on court interference during elections
After hearing the arguments of both the sides, the Supreme Court gave a decision which put an end to the entire debate. Citing the historic ‘Ponnuswamy judgment’, the bench made it clear that under the Constitution of India, once the election process begins, the courts cannot interfere in it in any way. The court rejected Singhvi’s contention that there should be relaxation in cases of “clearly illegal” cancellations. The bench said that if we make such an exception today, it will be playing with the Constitution. The court said in clear words that Natarajan now has only one option left – he should wait for the elections to be over and then file the election petition legally.
What next? Suspense deepens on Natarajan’s political future
With the rejection of the petition, the doors of this Rajya Sabha election are completely closed for Meenakshi Natarajan. However, the Supreme Court has given relief in its order that the comments made today will not affect any election petition filed by Natarajan in future. But the big question is that after this high-profile cancellation, what turn will the equation of Madhya Pradesh’s Rajya Sabha seat take? Now the political eyes of the entire country are fixed on how Congress will recover from this big shock.