New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by Saritha S Nair, a key accused in the sensational solar scam, challenging the electoral victory of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala.
The plea was dismissed by a bench consisting of Justices A S Bopanna and Dipankar Datta.
In November, the Supreme Court had dismissed the same plea when S A Bobde was the Chief Justice. The SC then pointed out that Saritha's advocate had repeatedly failed to be present in the court. It also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Saritha.
However, Saritha requested to reconsider the plea stating that her advocate faced technical issues to participate in the court proceeding via video conferencing.
The court accepted this request and considered it before dismissing it on Friday.
What is the petition all about
Saritha, who is an accused in several cases, wanted to enter the electoral fray from the Wayanad and Ernakulam Lok Sabha seats, but her nomination papers were rejected by the respective Returning Officers.
Wayanad was one of the two Lok Sabha constituencies from where Rahul Gandhi contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He won from here, but was bested in his regular constituency, Amethi, in Uttar Pradesh.
Saritha, in her petition, sought to annul Rahul Gandhi's win and questioned the rejection of her nomination papers.
Her papers were rejected on the grounds that she was sentenced to three years each in two cheating cases by magistrate courts.
The solar scam had rocked the United Democratic Front dispensation of Oommen Chandy a decade ago. It was alleged that a few personnel in the Chief Minister's Office were hand in glove with Saritha and her aides in cheating several persons of crores of rupees.