Hyderabad: A court in Hyderabad on Friday (June 12) returned the controversial private complaint filed by a woman former corporator against Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan, but not before the damage was already done. Three days earlier, Natarajan’s nomination to Rajya Sabha was rejected due to the pending court case, which she had not mentioned in her election affidavit.Telangana Congress Committee president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud has now warned that the Congress government in Telangana will enquire about how information about the matter got out, and take stringent action against those who leaked it. He told mediapersons on Saturday (June 13) that it was the work of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Union government and the Prime Minister’s office.“There was neither a criminal case against Meenakshi Natarajan nor a crime number given warranting rejection of her nomination,” he said.Earlier, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said in Delhi that Natarajan, a former Member of Parliament, had no power to resolve a dispute between two persons. She was issued summons as per routine court procedures following a private complaint. There was no column in election affidavits seeking disclosure of court summons. Only particulars of criminal cases against candidates had to be mentioned.The petition was returned to the woman, whose identity cannot be revealed as per Indian law, on the ground that the court of the fourth Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, presided by A. Swarnalatha, “did not have jurisdiction to entertain the petition for taking cognisance against sitting MLAs”. The record was therefore returned to the petitioner with a direction to file it before the proper forum that could redress her grievance.Four of the seven respondents in the case filed by the woman are incumbent legislators, apart from Natarajan, a former Member of Parliament. The woman had filed a protest petition against them after her police complaints about sexual harassment by a Congress leader were closed for lack of evidence.She had alleged failure of Congress party to take action against the Congress leader K. Shiva Kumar Reddy, former president of the party’s Narayanpet district, who she alleged sexually harassed her and threatened to kill her.She moved court after the Panjagutta and Osmania University police stations in Hyderabad as well as the Cubbon Park police station in Bengaluru, Karnataka, filed closure reports in her cases against Reddy, said Ravi Shankar Jandhyala, a senior counsel who argued on behalf of Natarajan and others. He said there was no first information report (FIR) against Natarajan.Speaking to The Wire, Ravi Shankar said the police cases were closed 22 months ago but the legal team of the Congress did not follow up until the woman filed her protest petition. “I was engaged only a day before the case came up in the magistrate case on Tuesday,” the lawyer said.Also read: What is the Case Against Congress Leader Meenakshi Natarajan That Cost Her a Rajya Sabha Nomination?The woman filed her case in August 2025 and the proceedings dragged on till June 12, only on the question of taking cognisance of the woman’s petition. Natarajan had replied to the summons of the court saying no case could be made out against her as she could not be held liable for Reddy’s alleged actions. She pleaded that the case be dismissed.Meanwhile, Ravi Shankar alleged that her protest petition in the wrong forum suggested the woman had ulterior motives behind filing the case. He said that if the proceedings had been closed earlier, Natarajan would not have faced the rejection of her nomination, and that the respondents were slow to respond to the matter.The woman who filed the petition, on the other hand, told The Wire that about fifty advocates thronged the court hall on Friday in support of the respondents (Congress leaders). “They were deployed to sabotage the case,” she alleged. She said such pressure tactics were used against her from the beginning. “They tried to stop me from reaching the court,” she said.Advocates and supporters were also mobilised in a big way on Friday because a separate Congress party petition, challenging the rejection of Natarajan’s nomination, was to be heard in the Supreme Court on the same day.However, the complainant said, the police cases she filed were closed citing lack of evidence “because of political pressure”. She said she repeatedly approached the party’s “high command” seeking Reddy’s suspension but received no response. She said Natarajan told her he had been suspended. “Then how was it that he appeared on an official stage with his niece and Narayanpet MLA Parnika Reddy,” she asked.She also expressed solidarity with Natarajan and blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using unethical methods to secure the third Rajya Sabha seat from Madhya Pradesh. She said she was still a member of the Congress, though the leadership had asked her to stay away from party activities. She declared that she would file a fresh petition against Reddy case on Monday.There were tense moments in the court room after the magistrate called for the file related to the Congress leaders and heard submissions by advocates on both sides. The court accepted advocate Ravi Shankar’s contention that it lacked jurisdiction to issue summons in the case, and asked him to substantiate the same. He then filed a memo, which the court immediately took cognisance of and returned the petition to the woman.Meanwhile on Friday, June 12, the Supreme Court said Natarajan could raise an election petition against the rejection of her nomination, and dismissed her plea seeking relief from the court.