Supreme Court dismisses plea challenging election of Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the election of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Kerala's Wayanad constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls..A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde dismissed it on the ground that the petitioner remained unrepresented even though it was listed thrice. ."Even on second call, no one was connected through video conferencing. The special leave petition is dismissed for non-prosecution,"the order reads. .The case was an appeal by one Saritha Nair against an October 31, 2019 decision of the Kerala High Court by which her election petitions challenging the Lok Sabha polls in Wayanad and Ernakulam were dismissed..Nair's nomination papers for contesting Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad and Ernakulam Lok Sabha seats were rejected by the returning officers in 2019 on account of her conviction and sentencing in two criminal cases related to the Solar scam in the state..The Kerala High Court had not allowed the petitioner's plea challenging the polls in both Lok Sabha seats stating that her nomination papers were rejected as the conviction in the two criminal cases had not been suspended.The High Court had observed that only the sentences in the cases were suspended by the appellate court..Gandhi had won Kerala's Wayanad seat - the second seat he contested in the 2019 polls - with a record margin of 431,770 votes. He had defeated his nearest rival PP Suneer of the Communist Party of India who secured 274,597 votes, while Gandhi got 706,367 votes..As per section 8 (3) of the Representation of Peoples Act, the returning officer can reject the nomination of a candidate if he or she is punished in any criminal case for more than 2 years. Saritha was convicted in the solar scam with the Perumbavoor first class magistrate court sentencing her to three years imprisonment and imposing a penalty of Rs 10,000.In another case, Pathanamthitta judicial first class magistrate court imposed a fine of Rs 45 lakh fine on her. The returning officer had rejected her nomination to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency citing her conviction..Note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly mentioned that Supreme Court had imposed costs of Rs. 1 lakh on the petitioner. The error is regretted and has been corrected.