The Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear on September 23 the plea of senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel seeking stay on further proceedings in the Gujarat High Court on his 2017 election to the Rajya Sabha that has been challenged by rival BJP candidate Balwantsinh Rajput.
A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer agreed to hear the plea after senior advocate Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, appearing for Patel, submitted that the matter is scheduled for hearing in the high court on September 27.
Singhvi, along with senior advocate Dev Dutt Kamath, said there was a need for hearing the matter in the apex court before the high court goes in for further proceedings in which the arguments are at final stage.
Patel has challenged in the apex court the maintainability of the election petition in the High Court, the advocates said.
Till the apex court decided the maintainability of the election petition, there was a need for stay of proceedings in the high court, they said.
Patel has challenged the order of the Gujarat High Court’s by which it had dismissed his plea questioning the maintainability of Rajput’s election petition.