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 reserved the order after completing the hearing of arguments.
During the hearing, it was disclosed that the election petition was submitted seven days after the deadline for filing such pleas had expired, raising questions about its maintainability.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Maneka Gandhi via video conferencing, argued for condoning the delay and urged that the petition be considered on its merits, citing several precedents.
Gandhi's petition primarily alleges that Nishad concealed information about his criminal history in the affidavit submitted during his nomination. According to Gandhi, Nishad has 12 criminal cases pending against him but disclosed only eight in his affidavit.
The petition asserts that Nishad failed to disclose two criminal cases from Pipraich police station and three from Bardhalganj police station in Gorakhpur district.
Gandhi seeks the annulment of Nishad's election and requests that she be declared the elected representative.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Nishad, a former minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and a native of Gorakhpur district, defeated Gandhi in the Sultanpur constituency. Gandhi had won the Sultanpur seat on a BJP ticket in 2019, while her son Varun Gandhi represented the constituency in Lok Sabha in 2014.
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