Supreme Court rejects Cong leader Meenakshi Natarajan's plea against RS setback

THe sublime margaret court on fri rejected u.s. Congress prospect Meenakshi Natarajan's plea challenging the rejection of her Rajya Sabha candidature in Madhya Pradesh. In its order, the top court noted arguments by the Election Commission's counsel, saying it is mandatory to disclose all pending criminal cases, at whatever stage they may be.“It is submitted that any non-disclosure would entail rejection of nomination and the Returning Officer has not committed any error,” the court said according to LiveLaw, noting what the ECI counsel submitted.The top court also said that once a nomination is rejected, the only remedy is to approach the poll panel. “However erroneous the decision may be, once a nomination is rejected, the remedy ordinarily lies elsewhere. Is there any judgment of this Court where we have interfered at that stage?,” the court was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.However, the order comes days after a Congress team led by senior leaders like KC Venugopal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi met EC officials in this regard.What was the plea about?Meenakshi Natarajan had approached the Supreme Court against the rejection of her Rajya Sabha candidature. While the BJP alleged that her nomination papers concealed information on summons by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Hyderabad, the Congress argued Natarajan had no pending cases."No criminal case comes into existence...There's a notice to her by a court based on a private complaint, well before the court has taken cognizance. The issue of cognizance is yet to be decided after hearing her," Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said.Singhvi, who appeared for Natarajan in Supreme Court on Friday, made similar arguments. He told the court that while a legal notice was issued, no charges were framed. “There are no charges framed, why should she disclose? if there is a criminal case pending, she would disclose as candidate,” Singhvi said.However, the ECI counsel argued that Natarajan's nomination rejection was justified, and that she was required to disclose all pending cases. Meenakshi Natarajan was Congress's sole Rajya Sabha candidate and the cancellation of her nomination means all three BJP candidates from Madhya Pradesh can go through to the Rajya Sabha.What Congress leader said on SC orderThe Supreme Court rejected Natarajan's plea saying the court was not inclined to interfere in cases of cancellation of nomination papers. Reacting to the order, Natarajan said: "We all know the Election Commission's stance. I do not wish to make any comment regarding the Supreme Court."Over the past two days, Congress has raised a big storm over the Rajya Sabha setback for Natarajan.