Plea in SC seeks directions to EC to curb 'arbitrary' rejections of nomination papers

New Delhi: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Election Commission to curb "arbitrary and mala fide" exercise of discretion by the returning officers in rejecting the nomination papers of the candidates across the country.

Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with the scrutiny of nomination papers by the returning officer (RO) in elections and its sub-section 4 says the "RO shall not reject any nomination paper on the ground of any defect which is not of a substantial character".

One Jawahar Kumar Jha, whose nomination papers as an Independent candidate from Banka parliamentary seat in Bihar for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls have been rejected by the RO, has moved the top court challenging the cancellation of his nomination.

In a plea filed through lawyer Alakh Alok Srivastava, Jha has also urged the top court to curb the arbitrary and mala fide exercise of discretion by the ROs across India in rejecting the nomination papers of the candidates.

"Issue urgent appropriate writ, order or direction to specifically define the defects of substantial character within the meaning of Section 36 (4) of the Representation of the People Act," the plea said.

"The said section 36 (4) of the Act, 1951 states that the returning officer shall not reject any nomination paper on the ground of any defect which is not of a 'substantial character'.

"However, there is no specific definition to specify as to what will constitute a defect of substantial character", it said.

Thus, in the absence of any specific definition, the Election Returning Officers are often found to be rejecting the nomination papers of various candidates in an utterly arbitrary and whimsical manner, it said.

"Such unbridled, ambiguous, discretionary and arbitrary exercise of power by the Returning Officers is posing grave danger to our democracy, as sometimes eligible and popular candidates are being ousted on extraneous consideration and non-suitable candidates are being confirmed despite having glaring defects in their nomination forms," it said.

It also sought a direction to the ROs across the country "to mandatorily provide a reasonable opportunity of at least a day to every candidate to cure every defect marked in the election nomination papers".

Jha also sought a direction to the poll panel and the RO of Banka to quash "the Press Release... dated April 05, 2024 issued by the Public Relation Office, Banka, vide which the nomination of the Petitioner was arbitrarily rejected" and declare him as a valid candidate.

The plea said the RO and the observer acted in an "utterly mala fide and arbitrary manner" in rejecting Jha’s nomination form seemingly with an ulterior motive of benefitting the candidate belonging to the ruling dispensation.

"This is evident from the fact that instead of pointing out all shortcomings/ defects in Petitioner's Nomination Form in one go, the Returning Officer kept on marking different defects at different times till the end," it said.

The polls will be held on April 26 for the Banka parliamentary constituency.