The controversy surrounding the Punjab Rajya Sabha by-election has now reached a decisive legal turning point.
After spending 70 days in jail and securing his release, Navneet Chaturvedi has approached the High Court, challenging the victory of Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta. The petition has sent fresh shockwaves through Punjab’s political landscape.
During the Rajya Sabha by-election, Navneet Chaturvedi had filed his nomination as an independent candidate, claiming support from certain Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs. However, those very legislators later publicly denied backing his candidature and alleged that their signatures had been forged. Following complaints, multiple FIRs were registered against Chaturvedi. He was arrested and remained in judicial custody for nearly 70 days.
Amid the controversy, his nomination was rejected, and AAP candidate Rajinder Gupta was declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. It is this very election result that Chaturvedi has now challenged before the High Court.
In his election petition, Chaturvedi has argued that his nomination was wrongfully rejected and should be declared invalid. He has further demanded that the result declaring Rajinder Gupta elected unopposed be set aside and that the entire by-election be declared void. The petition also alleges misuse of state machinery and lack of transparency in the scrutiny of nomination papers.
Chaturvedi contends that no final and conclusive forensic report has been made public regarding the allegedly forged signatures. He questions why, if the documents were indeed fake, they were openly submitted at the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat. He has also alleged that a political narrative was built to portray him as a criminal in order to remove him from the electoral contest.
During the preliminary hearing, the High Court allowed the deletion of the Returning Officer’s name from the list of parties on technical grounds but found the main election petition fit for consideration and issued notice. The next hearing has been scheduled for March 13, where the court is expected to examine whether the rejection of his nomination was legally valid.
Chaturvedi’s legal challenge has directly put the Aam Aadmi Party under scrutiny. If serious questions arise in court regarding the nomination rejection process, the matter could go beyond an individual grievance and raise broader constitutional concerns about the validity of the Rajya Sabha by-election itself.
For now, the matter remains sub judice. However, with Navneet Chaturvedi launching his legal offensive soon after his release from jail, Punjab’s political battle appears far from over, and all eyes are now on the High Court’s upcoming proceedings.
