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Legal Dispute in Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha Election Nomination

Thursday, June 11, 2026
5 min read
Legal Dispute in Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha Election Nomination

Madhya Pradesh is watching this whole Rajya Sabha election mess unfold between Congress and BJP with a real sense of intrigue. And the Election Commission is stuck with a question that feels huge should a candidate even be allowed to declare complaints against someone if there’s no actual cognizance taken yet?

That’s what a senior Congress delegation brought to the EC’s door on Wednesday. They brought names like KC Venugopal , Jairam Ramesh , and some legal minds, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vivek Tankha .

Things got specific fast when the Returning Officer for Madhya Pradesh rejected Meenakshi Natarajan’s nomination. The reason? She apparently didn't disclose an offense against her.

The whole issue stems from a private complaint filed in Telangana back in 2022 by a former associate, A Srilatha. That court case asked her to appear in September 2025. But here’s the snag: there was no FIR. No formal cognizance taken.

The RO rejected the nomination because she failed to put this information in Form 26. He basically said, "You have to disclose it."

Congress pushed back hard. They argued that since the court hadn't even started probing anything no case number existed why should Natarajan be forced to reveal details?

Vivek Tankha pointed out something about the process itself. Under BNS Section 223(2), a court issues notice, and only after hearing both sides is cognizance decided. It’s not automatic.

Singhvi spoke before the commission, adding that the RO’s order felt wrong. There was no criminal case pending against Natarajan to begin with. No cognizance had been taken by anyone. EC rules under 33A talk about revealing cases where charges have actually been framed. The RO used a word "sangyan" which means cognizance. Singhvi insisted that charge was factually incorrect here.

Legal experts said, look, the Returning Officer is usually the final call on nomination scrutiny. That’s the legal standing. But then you have the EC itself. Article 324 gives it this massive power to oversee polls.

EC sources told CNN-News18 that they heard the Congress group for ages. They didn't really comment on the charges against the RO, though. They said they are looking at the representation made by the delegation. An order will come after detailed scrutiny. It’s slow work.

But time is running out. Meenakshi Natarajan has a deadline looming. The last date for withdrawing her nomination is Thursday. That means any real legal move window is just twenty-four hours.

Singhvi was pretty clear on the stakes. He said the EC has that overarching power. We are at the absolute end of the nomination period now. We really hope the commission will stand by the Constitution here. There’s precedent, you know, the EC overruling a RO in Haryana and Gujarat before.

Tankha expressed real hope for a good outcome. He said he is very hopeful the EC will use its power under Article 324 to fix what the RO got wrong.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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