Swapna Kumbar , Bengaluru - The Supreme Court on Friday refused to intervene in Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan's challenge to the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh, dismissing her plea and holding that courts cannot interrupt an ongoing election process. However, the court clarified that Natarajan retains the right to challenge the nomination rejection through an election petition before the appropriate High Court after the election process concludes.

Natarajan's nomination had been rejected after BJP state general secretary Rahul Kothari objected that she had not fully disclosed details of a pending criminal case in her election affidavit submitted with nomination papers. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Natarajan, argued that the nomination was wrongfully rejected and urged immediate court intervention, clarifying that only criminal cases carrying a minimum sentence of two years imprisonment need to be disclosed, and that Natarajan had only received a summons in the case.

The Supreme Court declined to accept this contention, relying on the principles laid down in the landmark Ponnuswami judgment, which bars judicial interference during an ongoing election process. The court said it could not carve out exceptions to intervene in some cases while requiring others to pursue remedies through election petitions after polls. While dismissing the petition as not maintainable, the court said its observations were limited to deciding the present case and would not prejudice any election petition that may be filed subsequently.

The dismissal delivers a significant setback to the Congress party, which had alleged unfair treatment by the Election Commission and launched protests over the issue, with Rahul Gandhi accusing the BJP and Election Commission of a "jugalbandi." The legal door remains open for Natarajan, but the challenge must now follow the route prescribed under election law through the High Court after poll completion.