No rule flouted in election to RS from Gujarat: Jaishankar to SC

External affairs minister S Jaishankar has in the Supreme Court defended his election to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat last year, stating that the procedure of voting adopted by the election commission did not flout any law or constitutional provision.

Submitting his affidavit in response to a petition by defeated Congress party candidate Gaurav Hemantbhai Pandya, the minister accused Pandya of “misusing the process of law” by filing several election petitions before the top court.

Jaishankar also emphasised that the Congress leader’s appeal against the Gujarat high court’s order is based on “misrepresentation of facts and incorrect understanding of law”.

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What lies at the centre of controversy is the election commission’s decision to hold separate polls for the two RS seats vacated by Union ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani in May 2019. The polls were conducted on the same day but through separate voting and both seats were won by the candidates put up by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) – Jaishankar and Jugal M Lokhandwala. The Congress had hoped to bag at least one RS seat on the basis of single transferable vote had the elections for both seats happened together. Defeated Congress candidates, including Pandya, had thus moved high court, which declined to entertain their petitions. Subsequently, they filed their appeals in the Supreme Court.

On November 18, an SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, issued a notice to Jaishankar. At that time, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Pandya, asserted that the petition raised important legal issues about the election commission’s power to conduct separate voting for casual vacancies that arise simultaneously.

The SC will take up Jaishankar’s response on Monday when the matter comes up for hearing.