Shafaqna India: The Congress on Wednesday met the Election Commission (EC) and sought the immediate reversal of the rejection of senior leader Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination, alleging that the Returning Officer (RO) had relied on a criminal case that did not exist in the eyes of law.
Describing the RO’s order as “egregious”, “patently unlawful” and “without authority of law”, the Congress said the EC must act swiftly to restore fairness to the electoral process and set aside the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination.
A high-level delegation led by AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, which also included candidate Natrajan, senior Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Jairam Ramesh, Bhupesh Baghel, Deepa Dasmunshi and Randeep Singh Surjewala, met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other Election Commissioners. The delegation argued that the RO’s decision was legally unsustainable and had distorted the electoral process even before voting could take place.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Singhvi said the order was so flawed that it was akin to “writing two plus two equals seven”. He said Natarajan’s nomination had been rejected on the ground that she failed to disclose a pending criminal case in her nomination papers.
Singhvi maintained that no criminal case was pending against Natarajan. He said she had only received a court notice asking her to appear and explain why cognisance should not be taken on a private complaint. Under criminal law, he argued, a case came into existence only after a magistrate took cognisance.
