The Supreme Court declined to grant relief to Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan
June 12, 2026: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to provide immediate relief to Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan in her challenge against the rejection of her Rajya Sabha nomination papers. The court observed that disputes arising from the election process must be addressed through the legal mechanisms prescribed under election law rather than through direct intervention by the apex court.
The case relates to Natarajan’s challenge against the decision of the Returning Officer (RO), who rejected her nomination for the Rajya Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh. During the hearing, the bench questioned whether there was any precedent where the Supreme Court had overturned a Returning Officer’s decision and restored a nomination after the election process had already begun.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Natarajan, argued that the rejection was legally incorrect. He contended that although a criminal case was pending, charges had not been framed against the Congress leader, which is a key requirement under the Representation of the People Act. Singhvi maintained that the Returning Officer had misapplied the law while scrutinizing her nomination papers, but the court declined to interfere at this stage.