Allahabad High Court Reserves Judgment on Maneka Gandhi's Petition Against Ram Bhual Nishad

The Allahabad High Court has reserved its judgment on Maneka Gandhi's petition challenging Ram Bhual Nishad's election win. Gandhi claims Nishad concealed information about his criminal history. The petition was filed after the deadline, raising questions about its validity. Both parties presented their arguments before the court.

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 latest polls.

Justice Rajan Roy of the Lucknow bench reserved the order after the completion of arguments.

The petition, filed seven days post the deadline for such pleas, has raised questions regarding its maintainability.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Maneka Gandhi via video conferencing, argued for the delay in filing to be condoned, urging the court to hear the petition on its merits, citing multiple precedents.

Gandhi's petition alleges Nishad concealed details of his criminal history in his nomination affidavit, disclosing only eight of twelve pending criminal cases against him.

The undisclosed criminal cases involved incidents at Pipraich and Bardhalganj police stations in Gorakhpur district.

The petition seeks the annulment of Nishad's election and requests declaring Gandhi as the elected representative.

In the recent elections, Nishad defeated Gandhi in the Sultanpur constituency. Gandhi had previously won the seat on a BJP ticket in 2019, following her son Varun Gandhi's representation in 2014.

(With inputs from agencies.)