The Supreme Court will consider a challenge filed by former Union Minister Maneka Gandhi on Friday, which contests the election of Samajwadi Party MP Rambhual Nishad from the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.

A bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan will hear the case on September 20, according to the causelist that was posted on the website of the highest court.

The Representation of People (RP) Act, 1951’s Sections 81, coupled with Section 86, rendered Maneka Gandhi’s election appeal time-barred, and the Allahabad High Court had already rejected it.

In accordance with the provisions of Section 81 of the RP Act, an election petition may be submitted no sooner than 45 days after the returned candidate’s election date.

The returning candidate was declared elected on June 4 by Justice Rajan Roy of the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow Bench; however, Maneka Gandhi filed an election appeal on July 27.

The single-judge bench of Justice Roy said in its ruling on August 14 that the election petition seemed to have been submitted outside the 45-day window specified under Section 81 of the Act 1951. According to Section 86 of the Act 1951, an election petition that violates any of the Act 1951’s Sections 81, 82, or 117 would be dismissed by the High Court.”

The high court stated that “under the repealed Section 85, there was a provision for condonation of delay in filing an election petition but there is no such provision in the RP Act existing as of now” and that “there is no provision under the RP Act that permits condonation of such delay and extension of the imitation proscribed.”

Maneka Gandhi claimed in her appeal that the head of the Samajwadi Party (SP) had sworn a false affidavit and failed to reveal that he was the subject of four ongoing criminal prosecutions.

In Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi was defeated by Rambhual Nishad by 43,174 votes. Gandhi received 4,01,156 votes, while Nishad received 4,44,330.