BSP candidate's plea against rejection of papers dismissed

CHENNAI: Madras High Court has dismissed a petition by a candidate of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), that challenged the

rejection

of his

nomination

during scrutiny for the May 16 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. The bench pointed out that courts are constitutionally barred from entertaining matters related to elections during the process.

The candidate, Jayaraj, hoped to contest from Thondamuthur constituency in Coimbatore district, but an April 30 order of the

Returning Officer

rejected his nomination papers for some 'defects'.

A vacation bench comprising justices K K Sasidharan and S Vimala in their order on Friday referred to the Supreme Court ruling with regard to Article 329 of the Constitution and said it excluded jurisdiction of courts to entertain any matter relating to elections.

Interpreting Article 329(b), the apex court had held that the word "election" in the provision would include the entire process, commencing with the issue of notification and till the declaration of

election

, and any writ challenging the validity of any of the acts forming part of the process would be barred, the bench said.