SC adjourns hearing of petitions challenging S Jaishankar's election to Rajya Sabha
Mar 02, 2021
New Delhi [India], March 2 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging the election of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde adjourned the hearing as letter for adjournment was circulated in case.
One of the petitions against Jaishankar has been filed by Congress leader Gaurav Pandya.
The pleas have also raised the issue of Election Commission's (EC) power on issuance of separate notifications for holding bypolls for casual and regular vacancies in Rajya Sabha.
The pleas related to 2019 Rajya Sabha bypoll on two seats from Gujarat and both seats were won by BJP candidates.
On February 4 last year, the Gujarat High Court had dismissed the plea of Gaurav Pandya against Jaishankar's election to the Rajya Sabha. It had also dismissed two other petitions filed by Congress leaders Chandrikaben Chudasama and Pareshkumar Dhanani against the election of BJP candidate Jugalji Thakore.
Jaishankar and Thakore had defeated Congress candidates Pandya and Chudasama respectively in the bypolls.
Chandrikaben Chudasama and Pareshkumar Dhanani had also approached the top court against High Court order dismissing their election petitions against Thakore. Both Jaishankar and Thakore were elected to Rajya Sabha on July 5 last year in by-polls held on seats vacated by Union ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani.
The Congress leaders have challenged the High Court order in the apex court.
Jaishankar while defending his election to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat last year, has stated in it's affidavit before the apex court that the procedure of voting adopted by the Election commission did not flout any law or constitutional provision.
Congress leader's appeal against the Gujarat High Court's order is based on "misrepresentation of facts and incorrect understanding of law", the minister has said.
The Congress leaders had moved the High Court challenging the election on the ground that the EC'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, the Representation of People (RP) Act, 1951 and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961."
