Supreme Court To Hear Congress's Meenakshi Natarajan Plea Against Rejection Of Rajya Sabha Candidature Tomorrow, Questions Maintainability

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list tomorrow the writ petition filed by Congress member Meenakshi Natarajan challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha candidature from Madhya Pradesh.A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice AS Chandurkar agreed to list the matter after an oral request by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi for an urgent hearing.Singhvi pressed for an urgent hearing either today or tomorrow, saying today was the last day to withdraw nominations. Singhvi urged that an order be passed to restrain the declaration of results.He submitted that the Returning Officer rejected her nomination on the ground of suppression of a criminal case. He contended that there was no cognizance taken over the criminal case in question, and only a pre-cognizance summons as per Section 223 BNSS has been served upon her. According to him, as per Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act, only criminal cases where cognizance has been taken need to be disclosed."How is this maintainable?" Justice Mishra asked, noting that in election matters, the Courts won't interfere in the interim. Singhvi submitted that in cases of glaring errors, the Courts can interfere.Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, for the rival candidate, objected to the maintainability. Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, for the Election Commission of India, also questioned the maintainability. Ultimately, the bench agreed to list the matter for tomorrow.Reportedly, Natarajan's application was rejected by Returning Officer Arvind Sharma, following allegations that she had "hidden" details of a criminal case pending against her in Telangana in the nomination papers.The case in question is a private complaint no 4472/2025 filed former Congress worker, A. Srilatha from Telengana before the IV Additional Judicial Magistrate, Hyderabad, where Natarajan is arrayed as Respondent no. 4.In her complaint, she reportedly made allegations of molestation against the accused person, who is named as Respondent 1 and against Natarajan and others for failing to take action despite repeated complaints as senior party functionaries. It may be noted that Natarajan is the All India Congress Committee in charge for Congress of Telangana.Natarajan has reportedly received notice under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita on the complaint. As per this provision, no cognizance on the private complaint can be taken without hearing the parties. In light of this, Natarajan was called by the Magistrate to answer why the cognizance should not be taken against as an accused.On X(formerly Twitter), INC tweeted that they have approached the Election Commission against the rejection of Natarajan's candidature. It has been said that, as per Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act, disclosure is required to be made only in those cases where the punishment is more than 2 years and only in those cases where charges have been framed. INC has said Natarajan has only received a notice to appear before the Court, the cognisance of which has not been taken."Ms. Natarajan only received a notice to appear before the court and explain why cognizance should not be taken. That means the notice she received was before any cognizance was taken. Without cognizance, no criminal case exists in the eyes of the law. There is no criminal case merely because I allege something against somebody else without cognizance being taken. They have rejected Ms. Natarajan's nomination despite the non-existence of even cognizance, which means there was no criminal case that she could have disclosed. Whereas Section 33A, says that after cognizance is taken, there will be an investigation. After the investigation, there will be a charge sheet," the party said.Case Details : Meenakshi Natarajan v. Election Commission of India | Diary No.36330/2026

Supreme Court To Hear Congress's Meenakshi Natarajan Plea Against Rejection Of Rajya Sabha Candidature Tomorrow, Questions Maintainability

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

Supreme Court To Hear Congress's Meenakshi Natarajan Plea Against Rejection Of Rajya Sabha Candidature Tomorrow, Questions Maintainability

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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