Allahabad HC Reserves Judgment on Maneka Gandhi’s Petition Challenging Election of Ram Bhual Nishad

GG News Bureau
Prayagraj, 6th August. The Allahabad High Court has reserved its judgment on a petition filed by former BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, challenging the election of Samajwadi Party’s Ram Bhual Nishad from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat in the recent polls. Justice Rajan Roy of the Lucknow bench made the decision after the completion of arguments.

During the hearing, concerns were raised regarding the maintainability of Gandhi’s petition, as it was submitted seven days past the deadline for filing such pleas. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gandhi via video conferencing, argued that the delay should be excused and that the petition should be examined on its merits. Luthra cited several legal precedents to support this argument.

Gandhi’s petition alleges that Nishad failed to disclose his complete criminal history in his affidavit submitted during the nomination process. According to Gandhi, Nishad has 12 criminal cases pending against him but disclosed only eight in his affidavit. The petition claims that Nishad omitted two cases from Pipraich police station and three from Bardhalganj police station in Gorakhpur district.

Gandhi’s petition seeks to annul Nishad’s election and requests that Gandhi be declared the elected representative. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Nishad, a former Uttar Pradesh minister from Gorakhpur district, defeated Gandhi from the Sultanpur constituency. Gandhi had previously won the Sultanpur seat in 2019 on a BJP ticket, while her son Varun Gandhi represented the constituency in 2014.