SC asks EC to look into grievances of sacked BSF jawan's nomination cancellation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to examine grievances raised by sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav, whose nomination against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varansai was cancelled.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the counsel for EC to seek instructions and apprise it by tomorrow.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Yadav, referred to an earlier verdict to the court and said election petitions can be filed during the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The RO on May 1 had rejected the nomination papers of Yadav, a Samajwadi Party candidate, who was dismissed from BSF in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the troops.

The poll panel official held that Yadav failed to furnish a certificate as mandated under the Representation of Peoples (RP) Act to the effect that he has not been “dismissed for corruption or disloyalty to the state”.

Yadav has sought setting aside of RO’s decision and the apex court’s nod to contest elections from high-profile Varanasi seat where poll is slated to taken place on May 19.

The Samajwadi Party had initially fielded Shalini Yadav as its candidate to contest against Modi and later nominated the sacked BSF jawan.