Allahabad High Court dismisses Maneka Gandhi's challenge to election of Sultanpur MP Ram Bhuwal Nishad

The Allahabad High Court recently dismissed the election petition filed by Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Maneka Gandhi challenging the election of Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament (MP) Ram Bhuwal Nishad from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency [Maneka Sanjay Gandhi v. Rambhual Nishad And Others]..Justice Rajan Roy found that Gandhi's plea was barred by limitation as it had been filed in contravention of Section 81 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RPA), which provides that an election petition should be filed within 45 days from the date of the election of the returned candidate.Further, Section 86 of the RPA Act requires the High Courts to dismiss election petitions that do not comply with the mandate under Section 81.In the present case, the Court noted that there was a delay of seven days in filing the election petition."The election petition has apparently been filed beyond the period of 45 days prescribed in Section 81 of the Act 1951 ... it is apparent that the Limitation Act, 1963, especially Section 5 thereof, is not applicable to election petitions. In fact, the applicability appears to be specifically excluded in view of the provision of Section 86 (1) of the Act 1951 which makes it mandatory for the High Court/ Election Judge to dismiss the election petition if it is not in conformity with the provision of Section 81 of the Act 1951," the Court said while dismissing Gandhi's plea..Since the election petition was not maintainable, the Court did not examine the merits of the matter either. "Unless and until the election petition is maintainable and is not barred by limitation, the merits of the matter cannot be considered," the Court said..Ram Bhuwal Nishad defeated Maneka Gandhi (who was earlier the MP representing Sultanpur) by over 43,000 votes in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Gandhi had received 4,01,156 votes to Nishad's 4,44,330 votes..In her petition challenging Nishad's election, Gandhi accused him of failing to disclose outstanding criminal proceedings against him in his nomination form. Gandhi argued that when Nishad filed Form-26 during the election process for the Sultanpur-38 Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 elections, he declared just 8 criminal offences, despite the fact that he had 12 unresolved cases.Gandhi said that such non-disclosure would constitute a corrupt practice under Section 100 of RPA..Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocates Prashant Singh Atal, Amit Jaiswal, Dr Pooja Singh and Vijay Vikram Singh appeared for Maneka Gandhi..[Read Judgment]