In a major setback for former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea by him against the rejection of his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. Bahadur was SP's candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
A bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi dismissed the plea saying, “We don’t find any merit to entertain this petition.”
Yadav had moved the top court challenging the decision of Returning Officer (RO) to reject his nomination papers from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, saying it was intended to "give walkover" to PM Modi. On Wednesday, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Yadav, referred to an earlier verdict to the court and said election petitions can be filed during the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The RO on May 1 had rejected the nomination papers of Yadav, a Samajwadi Party candidate, who was dismissed from BSF in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the troops.
also read
- ‘A tight slap to Congress-led opposition’: PM Modi on SC’s EVM, VVPAT verdict
- No going back: SC rejects paper ballot voting, complete verification of EVM-VVPAT slips
- Husband has no control over wife's 'stridhan': Supreme Court
- 'Can't control elections': Supreme Court reserves order in EVM-VVPAT case
The poll panel official held that Yadav failed to furnish a certificate as mandated under the Representation of Peoples (RP) Act to the effect that he has not been "dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the state".
Yadav has sought setting aside of RO's decision and the apex court's nod to contest elections from high-profile Varanasi seat where poll is slated to taken place on May 19.
The Samajwadi Party had initially fielded Shalini Yadav as its candidate to contest against Modi and later nominated the sacked BSF jawan.
While rejecting the nomination papers of Yadav, the RO had observed that "the nomination paper is neither accompanied by certificate issued in the prescribed manner by the Election Commission to the effect that he has not been dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the state".
In January 2017, Yadav had released a video describing the rations served to him and his fellow forces in the armed forces. In the video, he described working for 12 hours of standing duty while being hungry. Yadav was dismissed from the BSF by a Summary Security Force Court in July 2018. The charges against him included making false allegations on social media and carrying two mobile phones while on operational duty.
(With PTI inputs)
