Rahul Gandhi had won the Wayanad siege of Kerala with a record margin of 431,770 votes.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the election of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi in 2019 from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian initially ignored the case as none appeared on behalf of Saritha S Nair, who challenged the election of Mr Gandhi.
Later, in a hearing conducted by video conference, the bench dismissed its appeal against the order of the High Court of Kerala.
Saritha Nair had moved the superior court against the October 31, 2019 ruling of the Kerala High Court whereby her election petitions challenging Lok Sabha’s ballots in Wayanad and Ernakulam were also dismissed.
Saritha Nair’s candidacy materials for challenging the Lok Sabha polls of Wayanad and Ernakulam Lok Sabha seats were rejected by returning officers in 2019 due to her conviction and conviction in two criminal cases related to the solar scam in the state.
On June 10, the tribunal de grande instance took note of his lawyer ‘s request for an adjournment and postponed the hearing to November 2.
The Kerala High Court had not accepted Ms Nair’s pleas challenging the elections in the two Lok Sabha seats and said her nomination papers were rejected as the conviction in the two criminal cases had not been stayed .
He had that only the sentences in the cases were suspended by the court of appeal.
The High Court said it was clear from the relief sought in the appeal petition that Nair had only requested a stay of sentence and not a stay of sentence.
Saritha Nair’s candidacies were rejected under subsection 8 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which prescribed disqualification for conviction and conviction in a criminal case.
Mr Gandhi had won the Wayanad seat of Kerala – the second seat he contested in the 2019 polls – with a record-breaking margin of 431,770 votes.
He beat his closest rival PP Suneer of the Indian Communist Party who won 274,597 votes, while Mr. Gandhi won 706,367 votes.
