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SC reserves verdict on plea against Kalam's election

The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on a petition challenging A P J Abdul Kalam's election as President. The petition said that the appointment violated the rule framed by Parliament making it mandatory for candidates to have 50 proposers and 50 seconders.

Rejecting the plea of petitioner Charan Lal Sahu for issuance of a notice, a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice G B Pattanaik said, "We will answer the questions raised by you in the petition. Whether notices should be issued will depend on our order."

The bench, which also comprised Justice V N Khare, Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice Ashok Bhan, and Justice Arun Kumar, made it clear that it was hearing arguments on the admissibility of the petition.

Contending that the election process for the post was vitiated by the 'illegal' provisions made by Parliament, Sahu, whose nomination papers for the presidential election were rejected, said that the returning officer 'wrongly accepted the nomination papers of Kalam and Lakshmi Sehgal'.

He also said that Kalam had not provided all the information, including his actual age, in the nomination papers. When he tried to compare the status of the post of President with that of a member of Parliament, the court reprimanded him saying there was no need to raise such 'unnecessary' arguments.

Sahu said those who were qualified under Article 58 of the Constitution should be allowed to contest and not be barred merely to get rid of those who were not serious. The court had earlier asked the petitioner if he was serious in pursuing the petition.

In July this year, the Delhi high court had dismissed a petition filed by Sahu challenging the rejection of his nomination papers for the post of President.

It had also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on Sahu for filing a writ petition seeking to postpone the polls by interpreting the Supreme Court verdict 'wrongly'. The high court said that the Supreme Court judgment in a petition challenging the election of former president Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy in 1978 was binding on all courts.