BJP candidate moves HC against rejection of nomination

A day after his nomination for Nilgiris Lok Sabha constituency was rejected during scrutiny, BJP candidate S Gurumurthy today moved the Madras High Court challenging the Returning Officer's order.
In a writ petition, he sought a direction to the RO not to declare the list of valid candidates till the disposal of his petition.
RO Nilgris (SC) constituency P Shankar yesterday rejected the nomination papers of Gurumurthy on technical grounds, citing delayed submission of "B form".
In his petition, Gurumurthy said under Section 36(4) of Representation of Peoples Act, the returning officer should not reject the nomination papers of the candidates on the ground of defect which was not substantial in character.

He said the RO, who is vested with the quasi-judicial power, has to exercise it only after giving an opportunity to the candidate.
"Refusal to give an opportunity to the candidate and rejecting the nomination paper without giving at least a day of time is clearly an arbitrary exercise of power," he contended.
He submitted that if the RO had given him an opportunity to explain about the defect, he would have satisfied the RO which may have not resulted in rejection of his nomination papers.
He prayed for a direction to the RO to call for the records and include his name in the valid list of candidates contesting from the constituency.