The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain the petition filed by RJD candidate Shweta Suman, who had challenged the cancellation of her nomination for the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections.

A Bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran was hearing Suman’s appeal against the Patna High Court’s order dated November 4, which had dismissed her writ petition. The High Court had held that the dispute could not be examined under Article 226 in view of the bar under Article 329(b) of the Constitution, and that the proper remedy was to file an election petition after the election process concludes.

Article 329(b) specifies that election-related disputes can only be raised through election petitions before a competent forum, as provided under relevant election laws, and not through writ petitions during the election process.

Suman’s nomination had been rejected on the basis that her Scheduled Caste certificate was considered doubtful. She had sought to contest from the Mohania (SC Reserved) constituency in Bihar’s Kaimur district, where she has been residing for two decades.

Her counsel argued that the cancellation was influenced by an objection raised by a BJP candidate, and that the Returning Officer’s reliance on the Circle Officer’s report to question the authenticity of the caste certificate was not a valid ground under Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act, which governs scrutiny and rejection of nominations. It was also pointed out that a BJP office bearer had appeared in opposition before the High Court.

However, the Supreme Court was not inclined to intervene. The CJI advised the petitioner to pursue the statutory remedy:

“File an election petition.”

The petition was then withdrawn with liberty to proceed in accordance with law.

Case Title: Sweta Suman v. Election Commission of India
*SLP (C) No. 32046/2025