The Supreme Court on Friday delayed proceedings in the case brought by former union minister Maneka Gandhi, who has contested the legitimacy of the election results for the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat won by Samajwadi Party’s Ram Bhual Nishad.
Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan moved the hearing to December 2nd and requested senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gandhi, to submit an application for the condonation of delay. This legal term refers to the court’s discretionary power to allow an appeal to proceed even after the expiration of the usual time limits.
Gandhi, who lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to Nishad by 43,174 votes, had her election petition dismissed by the Allahabad High Court on August 14th. The High Court ruled that her petition was time-barred as it was filed after the 45-day statutory deadline for submitting such challenges.
In her challenge, Gandhi argues that Nishad failed to fully disclose his criminal record to the electorate, reporting only eight of the twelve pending criminal cases against him in his election affidavit. She contends that this omission misled the voters and violated their right to make an informed choice, justifying the need for a delay in filing her petition.
The High Court, however, held that the petition could not be considered on its merits because it was filed late, citing Section 81 read with Section 86 of the Representation of People Act 1951 and Order VII Rule 11(d) of the Code of Civil Procedure. As a result, the plea was dismissed as time-barred.
