With just a day to go for filing nominations, the Supreme Court (SC,) on the 2nd of April, rejected the plea of Hardik Patel, a newly inducted Indian National Congress (INC) member.
Hardik Patel, the Convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS,) moved the Court to challenge an order passed by the Gujarat High Court, which convicted Patel on grounds of rioting and arson in Vispur in 2015. While rejecting the plea, the SC bench, comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, M.M. Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha, said there was no urgency in the matter as the verdict was passed in August 2018.
“Your sentence was suspended in August 18. What were you doing since August last year? Why did you not challenge it then and now rush to the court? And now you suddenly wake up and want an urgent hearing. Sorry, if you can’t help yourself, we also cannot help you,” Justice Misra said, while rejecting Hardik’s pleas.
The Gujarat High Court rejected Hardik Patel’s plea because according to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, people who are convicted cannot contest elections.
Patel joined the Indian National Congress in an attempt to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Jamnagar constituency in Gujarat.
After the High Court announced its verdict, Patel took to Twitter and said his only crime was that he went against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP.)
However, regardless of Patel’s strong statements, the High Court said, Patel’s crimes were the reason for the rejection of the plea.
“The fact that there were 14 FIRs against him, his speeches throughout have remained inflammatory and he is a regular offender has been accepted by the court, which has refused to stay Patel’s sentence,” said Advocate Dharmesh Devani, a representative of the State Government, while stating why the HC rejected Hardik’s request.
Gujarat will conduct its Lok Sabha elections for 26 seats, during the second phase. With no nomination made from the Jamnagar constituency, the situation seems a little bleak for the Opposition, the INC.
Scheduled to be held between the 11th of April and the 19th of May in 7 phases, the Lok Sabha elections of this year are going to be one of the largest held in India to date. The results are going to be declared on the 23rd of May.
Stay tuned for more updates!
