The Madhya Pradesh High Court has rejected an election petition that contested the nomination of Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to the Rajya Sabha in 2020.

The plea contended that Scindia had failed to disclose information about a criminal case filed against him when he submitted his nomination papers in 2020.

Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke noted that the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) alone cannot be considered as evidence of a pending criminal case for the purpose of disclosures in nomination papers.

''"Mere registration of FIR vide crime number 176/2018 against Respondent No.1 (Scindia) at police station, Shyamla Hills, Bhopal for commission of offence punishable under sections 465, 468, 469, 471, 472, 474 and 120-B of IPC doesn’t come within the purview of pendency of criminal case.''

Former Minister and Congress leader Govind Singh filed the petition before the High Court. Singh accused Scindia, who became a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate after leaving the Congress in 2020, of concealing information about a criminal case filed against him for allegedly committing forgery and related offenses.

Singh presented that in 2018, an FIR accusing Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh, and Scindia of these offenses was filed at the Shyamala Hills police station in Bhopal. Singh argued that Scindia publicly acknowledged this. However, the High Court observed that the trial court did not take cognizance of this criminal case when Scindia filed his nomination papers.

The High Court further clarified that a directive issued in 2018 to register an FIR does not necessarily indicate that the trial court had taken cognizance of the matter. Instead, the court determined that the action taken was more akin to initiating an investigation or issuing a search warrant for investigative purposes.

The Court proceeded to establish that the obligation to disclose a criminal case in nomination papers arises only when a trial court formally takes cognizance of the case.

"Non-disclosure of the factum of registration of F.I.R in the nomination Form-26 expressly and impliedly cannot be said to amount corrupt practice as provided under Section 123 of the act of 1951 (Representation of People Act)," the Court concluded.

With these observations, the election petition was dismissed.

Senior counsel Anoop G Chaudhary and Kuber Bodh and advocate Manas Dubey represented Govind Singh.

Senior Advocate Naman Nagrath along with advocates Jubin Prasad and Soumya Pawaiya represented Scindia.