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A Supreme Court bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice JB Pardiwala today refused to entertain a plea filed by a man challenging the rejection of his nomination for the Presidential election.

The petitioner, Dr. Thirupathi Reddy, appeared in person and informed the court that he is aggrieved by the Returning Officer, Secretary General, Lok Sabha' action of not permitting him to file nomination for the ensuing election for President of India.

He argued that he is a suitable candidate by virtue of his qualifications. Dr. Reddy further submitted that he has a wide understanding of the Constitution and had scored 72 % in his LLM paper on Constitutional Law.

Dr. Reddy argued that he is an Advocate and has three international honorary doctorates making him a suitable candidate to be elected as the President of India.

He further informed the court that the returning officer had asked him to obtain the support of the stipulated number of Members of Parliament, in order to make it valid. However, owing to his age and shortage of time, he could not get the signatures of his backers and seconders.

The court, on hearing his submissions, observed that Dr. Reddy was not permitted to file his nomination, as his nomination form does not fulfil the mandatory statutory conditions contained in Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act 1952.

Top Court also held that it is undeniable that nomination paper sought to be submitted by Dr. Reddy was not in conformity with 1952 Act.

In conclusion, the vacation bench opined that the rejection of his nomination form did not suffer with any legal infirmity, thus dismissing the plea.

Case Title: Dr. Mandati Thirupathi Reddy vs. Secretary General