Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan suffered a legal setback after the Supreme Court declined to directly intervene in the rejection of her election nomination. The apex court observed that candidates whose nominations are rejected must first seek relief through the Election Commission before approaching the judiciary.
During the hearing, the bench clarified that it could not directly interfere in the nomination rejection process. The judges also sought details of any previous judicial precedents where courts had intervened in similar cases.
Nomination Rejected Over Alleged Non-Disclosure
Natarajan, the sole Congress candidate in the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha election, had her nomination rejected by the Returning Officer following objections raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the BJP’s complaint, Natarajan failed to disclose details of a pending criminal case in a Hyderabad court and did not fully declare information related to her assets in the nomination papers. Taking note of the allegations, the Returning Officer issued a notice seeking clarification and granted her time until 5:30 PM on June 9 to respond.
Election officials stated that no response was received within the stipulated deadline. Consequently, the Returning Officer rejected her nomination in accordance with the applicable election rules.
Case Linked to Hyderabad Court Petition
The criminal case cited in the nomination dispute stems from a private petition filed by former Tarnaka corporator Srilatha and Narayanpet Congress leader Kumbham Shivakumar Reddy.
Alleging harassment, criminal conspiracy, intimidation, and defamation, Srilatha initiated legal proceedings after cases registered in Panjagutta and Bengaluru during 2022 and 2023 reportedly failed to yield results. On August 20, she filed a 16-page private complaint before the Nampally Court seeking legal action against several political leaders.
The petition named Shivakumar Reddy, MLA Chittem Parnika Reddy, TPCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud, Minister Vakiti Srihari, Narayanpet DCC President K. Prashanth Reddy, Chittem Abhijay Reddy, and Meenakshi Natarajan as respondents. Srilatha also sought ₹10 crore in compensation for the alleged damage caused to her reputation.
Although the Nampally Court assigned an SR number to the petition and issued notices, no FIR has been registered in the matter so far.
Revanth Reddy Meets Rahul Gandhi
Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy paid a courtesy visit to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. The meeting took place amid ongoing political developments and discussions within the party.