New Delhi: While order was reserved on a petition filed by former BSF Jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, the Supreme Court said the issue could not be left pending indefinitely as it concerned the country’s most important office, that of the prime minister.
LiveLaw has reported that the petitioner’s lawyer had requested postponements and transfers many times during the hearing, prompting the magistracy of the Chief Justice SA Bobde and judges AS Bopanna and V. Ramasubramaniun to comment.
“We have already postponed it many times. This is an important case that revolves around the sole position of the Prime Minister. We cannot leave it pending indefinitely, ”said the CJI.
Tej Bahadur’s statement challenges the Allahabad high court verdict that had dismissed his electoral petition against the Election Commission to reject his nomination papers to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi of Varanasi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections .
“Why should we give them the freedom to postpone the session? He is abusing the process of law, ”the court told Bahadur’s lawyer.
The fact that the Supreme Court attaches importance to the PMO by refusing to adjourn the matter seems in stark contrast to its recent adjournment of a habeas corpus hearing on Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who had been arrested and slapped with sedition while being he was directing Hathras to report on the situation. brutality there. The bench for this audience was directed by CJI Bobde himself.
The same court has also postponed hearings on the constitutionality of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the lack of internet access in Jammu and Kashmir since the removal of Article 370, and the misery of migrant workers in the absence of government assistance. after a hastily called shutdown. .
The case of Bahadur
The supreme court observed that whether Bahadur’s nomination was correctly or incorrectly rejected by Allahabad depended on his eligibility. His lawyer, meanwhile, argued that Bahadur had previously submitted his nomination as an independent candidate and later as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party.
The returning officer on May 1, 2019 had rejected the nomination papers of Bahadur, a Samajwadi Party candidate, who was fired from BSF in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the quality of the food being served. to the troops.
Although he rejected Bahadur’s nomination papers, the Returns Officer had observed that “the nomination document is not accompanied by a certificate issued in the manner prescribed by the Electoral Commission to the effect that he has not been fired for corruption or disloyalty. to the state ”.
The Allahabad High Court had ruled that Bahadur could not have filed the electoral petition because he was not nominated and could not be considered properly nominated.
Bahadur had also addressed the Supreme Court, challenging the Return Officer’s decision to reject his nomination, but a court headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, had dismissed the petition.
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