External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has moved a caveat in the Supreme Court, saying he should be heard in case the court decides to take up any plea by Congress leaders challenging his election to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat last year.
On February 4 this year, the Gujarat High Court had dismissed the pleas of the Congress leaders — Gaurav Pandya, Chandrika Chudasama and Paresh Dhanani, against the election of former foreign secretary Jaishankar and BJP leader Jugalji Thakor to the Upper House.
Advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi filed the caveat on Jaishankar’s behalf in the apex court registry, saying that her client should be heard before the court entertains and passes a direction on any petition that may be filed against the high court order.
The caveat has been filed since the minister apprehends that the Congress leaders may move the apex court.
The election to the two Rajya Sabha seats of Gujarat were held on July 5 last year. The seats fell vacant after BJP leaders Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to Lok Sabha. Jaishankar and Thakor had defeated Pandya and Chudasama respectively in the by-polls.
The Congress leaders had challenged in the high court the election of Jaishankar and Thakor on the ground that the Election Commission’s notifications, treating the two vacant seats, to be of different categories and requiring bypolls to be held separately, were “illegal and in violation” of provisions of the Constitution, Representation of People (RP) Act, 1951 and Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
They had sought a direction from the high court to the poll panel to hold elections to the two seats afresh simultaneously through a single ballot and not through two ballots.
They had claimed that the election to the Rajya Sabha vacant seats should be held together so that the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote can be applied.
Earlier this month, the high court dismissed pleas, observing that the petitioners failed to establish any provision of the Constitution or the RP Act requiring the EC to hold a single by-election for filling up casual vacancies.