Rejection of nomination: Tej Bahadur moves SC

Tej Bahadur Yadav, a dismissed head constable of BSF, on Monday approached the Supreme Court for quashing of May 1 order by Returning Officer, rejecting his nomination paper from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sitting MP from Varanasi and has filed his papers once again as a BJP candidate during General Elections, 2019.

"It seems the impugned decision has been taken keeping in mind the sensitivity of the contest in Varanasi Constituency and to give walkover to the candidate of the ruling party by disqualifying the petitioner whose candidature has been gaining momentum and was therefore also supported by the main opposition alliance of two major political parties in the state," his plea claimed.

The head constable was sacked on April 19, 2019. His complaint on social media about poor foods during his postings in Kashmir had caused huge embarrassment to the government.

On Monday, his plea was filed in the top court by advocate Prashant Bhushan.

Tej Bahadur, who got support from Samajwadi Party as well as BSP, in his petition, claimed that the nomination paper filed on April 29 on the ground of his failure to furnish a certificate to the effect that he has not been dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the state.

He contended that the Returning Officer acted "unmindfully and insisted" for producing certificate in terms of Section 9 and Section 33 (3) of the Act of Represenation of People Act 1951 failed to appreciate that such certificate was not required, where the person so filing nomination, was not dismissed from service on the ground of corruption and/or disloyalty.

He said he was dismissed due to indiscipline which was not covered under Section 9 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 and therefore requirement of furnishing certificate as contemplated under Section 33 (3) of the Act of 1951 may not be required.