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High Court advocate Karuna Sagar on Wednesday defended the rejection of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination, alleging that she had suppressed information about a pending criminal case in her election affidavit.
Speaking to ANI, Sagar said the Returning Officer acted in accordance with the law while rejecting Natarajan's nomination, alleging that Natarajan had suppressed details of a pending criminal case against her in the Hyderabad Nampally Criminal Court in her nomination papers and affidavit. "The Returning Officer who rejected the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan for the post of MP Rajya Sabha has acted as per law. The reason is that Meenakshi Natarajan, in her nomination under Form 6 and affidavit, has suppressed the fact that there is a pending criminal case against her in the Hyderabad Nampally Criminal Court filed by a woman under serious allegations," Sagar said. According to Sagar, notices in the case had already been served to Natarajan, and she had legal representation in the matter. "The notice was served to her, and she has also appointed an advocate, who has filed his vakalat before the court and also filed several counters to the petitions filed by the complainant in the private complaint," he said. He further claimed that the alleged non-disclosure in the election affidavit was deliberate. "This clearly shows that Meenakshi Natarajan has personal knowledge about the pendency of the case in a criminal court, and the suppression of the criminal case in her election affidavit is wanton as such. The Returning Officer has rightly acted and has rejected the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan," Sagar said. The remarks came after the nomination of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan from Madhya Pradesh was rejected over allegations of concealing information regarding a pending case in her affidavit. The cancellation, which has sparked significant political controversy, led Natarajan to condemn the decision as "seat chori" (theft of a seat) and a "muzzling of democracy. Meanwhile, Congress workers also held a protest at Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai against the rejection of Congress RS candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination from Madhya Pradesh. (ANI)
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