New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (June 12) dismissed the petition filed by Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan challenging the cancellation of her Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh being cancelled.A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and A.S. Chandurkar on Friday held that the writ petition filed by Natarajan was non-maintainable and gave her liberty to raise the challenge in an election petition filed in terms of the Representation of the People Act, reported LiveLaw.The court cited the Constitutional bar as per Article 329 while rejecting the petition.“If the Court accepts such arguments to find out glaring cases which are required to be interfered under Article 32/226, and the other sets of cases, where the rejection is not so improper prima facie to relegate them to election petitions, this Court would be reading some principle which is not provided for under Article 329. We are afraid, that any such interpretation that in some of the matters this Court can interfere while leaving some others to avail the remedy of election tribunal cannot be encouraged,” said the court.While leaving open the remedy of election petition, the court clarified that it has not observed anything on the merits of the case.Earlier, Natarajan’s nomination was cancelled allegedly over her failure to disclose the details of a criminal case pending against her in her affidavit. The Congress has said that confusion is being spread on Natarajan’s nomination and no criminal case had been registered.On Friday, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared as the counsel for Natarajan, submitted that according to Section 33A of the Representation of the People Act, only the criminal cases where charges have been framed by the trial court need to be disclosed in the nomination. He added that Natarajan has only received the notice under Section 223, and no cognisance on the complaint has been taken by the court.Singhvi told the court that disclosure of a criminal case is required as per the RP Act only if a charge has been framed. He added that as per the Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarika Suraksha Sanhita, the accused has to be heard before taking cognisance, and the private complaint which became the ground for the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination, is at a pre-cognisance stage.Appearing for the rival candidate, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that the right to contest an election is not a fundamental right and only a statutory right. As a result, if there is no fundamental right, Article 32 cannot be invoked, reported LiveLaw.When Rohatgi, who was connecting virtually, got disconnected solicitor general of India Tushar Mehta sought to complete his arguments.At this point, Singhvi asked if the SG was supporting the candidate. “Government has come to support the candidate,” Singhvi said.Mehta clarified that he is appearing for the state of Madhya Pradesh which is seeking to intervene in the writ petition.After Rohatgi got re-connected, he submitted that after 2018, a candidate has to disclose all pending cases, and Form 26 mandates that. Singhvi said in response that that Form 26 cannot override Section 33A.In the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had the numbers to get two candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha, having a total of 164 MLAs in the house. However the party fielded three candidates for the election – its national general secretary Tarun Chugh, state unit secretary Rajneesh Agrawal and state Fishermen Welfare Board chairman Mahesh Kewat.Kewat’s nomination drew concerns over cross-voting and defections. Subsequently, after Natarajan’s candidature was rejected by the returning officer, Kewat and the other two candidates were elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed.Following the rejection of Natrajan’s nomination, the Congress in a statement had accused prime minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission of silencing “every democratic voice”.“Democracy cannot survive when constitutional institutions are reduced to instruments of political convenience. The rejection of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination from Madhya Pradesh raises serious questions about the fairness of our democratic institutions,” the party had said.