The Supreme Court will hear on Monday two petitions filed by senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, one against the election of Samajwadi Party MP Ram Bhuwal Nishad from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency, and another challenging the constitutional validity of Section 81 of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
The matter has been listed for hearing before the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
Nishad had defeated Gandhi, then sitting MP of Sultanpur, by more than 43,000 votes in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections 2024. While Nishad garnered 4,44,330 votes, Gandhi managed to get 4,01,156 votes, leading to her defeat.
Gandhi moved the Allahabad High Court against Nishad’s election, with a seven-day delay.
She accused Nishad of not accurately disclosing in his nomination form the criminal cases pending against him. The petition claimed that while filing Form-26 during the election process, Nishad disclosed only eight criminal cases, whereas there were actually 12 cases pending against him.
Gandhi contended before the High Court that she was hospitalized and therefore, she filed the application after a delay of one week.
On August 14, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court dismissed Gandhi’s petition, holding that it was filed in contravention of Section 81 read with Section 86 of the RP Act, as well as barred by limitation.
Section 81 of the RP Act provides a 45-day period from the date of election of the returned candidate, and if the dates for elections are different, then the later date for filing the election petition. Section 86 requires the High Courts to dismiss election petitions that do not comply with Sections 81, 82, and 117.
The BJP leader then moved the Apex Court challenging Section 81 of the RP Act, as well as the decision of the High Court.