Bihar Assembly Polls | Patna High Court Rejects Writ Pleas Of RJD & RLJP Candidates Challenging Rejection Of Their Nominations

The Patna High Court has refused to entertain two writ petitions filed challenging the rejection of nomination of two candidates belonging to Rashtriya Janata Dal and Lok Janshakti Party respectively in the upcoming Bihar Legislative Assembly Polls, scheduled on November 06 and 11.rJustice A Abhishek Reddy cited the specific bar under Article 329(b) of the Constitution of India and availability of alternate remedies to the candidates.One of the petitioners, RJD candidate Sweta Suman filed her nomination paper for contesting elections from assembly constituency No. 204 Mohania reserved for Scheduled Castes. She claims to belong to Scheduled Caste and stated that she had filed her nomination duly enclosing the documents including the Caste Certificate.The Election Officer at the time of scrutiny rejected her nomination on the ground that the Caste Certificate may not be genuine as per the report of the Circle Officer, Durgawati. Second petitioner LJP candidate Rakesh Kumar Singh filed his nomination paper to contest in the elections from assembly constituency No. 217 Ghosi. The nomination paper of the petitioner was rejected by the Election Officer on alleged whimsical and non-existent ground and the copy of the rejection order was not served on him.Rejecting their pleas, the High Court observed,"Irrespective of the fact as to whether the rejection of the nomination is bad in law or has been passed in an arbitrary manner, the same cannot be questioned under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in view of the specific bar laid down in Article 329(b) of the Constitution of India. Further, it is to be pertinent to note that Sections 80 & 100(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provide for filing an election petition even where the nomination of a person is rejected. Section 80 of Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides a remedy for filing an election petition once the results are declared and one of the grounds enumerated under Section 100(c) of Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with rejection of nomination". Article 329(b) states no election to either House of Parliament or to the House or either House of the Legislature of a State shall be called in question except by an election petition presented to such authority and in such manner as may be provided for by or under any law made by the appropriate Legislature.Section 80 of RP Act provides for filing of Election Petitions before the high court. Perusing the provisions the high court said, "A perusal of the above provisions makes it abundantly clear that there is a bar for entertaining any writ petitions/ cases other than election petition once the election process has begun, if any person is aggrieved including rejection of the nomination, the only remedy available to the said person is to file an election petition after the election process is over". As the court was not inclined to entertain the petitions, the counsel for petitioner said that he is not seeking stay of the election and merely wants a direction to be given to the Election Officer to accept the nomination papers and permit them to contest the election.The court however said that this would amount to allowing the writ petitions without any counter affidavit being filed and bypassing the statutory remedies provided under RP Act. The court also said that if any interim or final orders are passed at this stage, it would "directly effect the election process and will have the effect of delaying, protracting the election process" which admittedly has already commenced. "Having regard to the above, this Court does not find any merit in the present writ petitions which warrants any interference by this Court and the writ petitions are accordingly, dismissed," the court said.It however clarified that it has not gone into the merits or demerits of the case, leaving all questions/ issues open.Case title: Sweta Suman v/s ECI and Others AND Rakesh Kumar Singh v/s ECI & OthersCivil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17396 of 2025, Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 17397 of 2025Click Here To Read/Download Order

Bihar Assembly Polls | Patna High Court Rejects Writ Pleas Of RJD & RLJP Candidates Challenging Rejection Of Their Nominations

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