NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel today told the Supreme Court that the petition filed by a BJP leader challenging his election to the Rajya Sabha in the Gujarat High Court contained "vague" allegations and the court cannot be asked to conduct a "fishing and roving" inquiry.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was told by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Patel, that BJP leader Balwantsinh Rajput has levelled vague allegations that he indulged in corrupt practices and bribed MLAs to influence the election.
"The election law is very strict law and the allegations have to be specific and substantiated. Allegations in an election petition have to be clear and they cannot be vague. The court cannot be asked to conduct a fishing and roving inquiry into the allegations of corrupt practices," Singhvi told the bench which also comprised justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.
He said that Congress party had 57 MLAs in Gujarat assembly and it has been alleged that Patel bribed 44 of them and the peculiar thing was that the plea did not disclose "who, when and how" they were bribed.
The issue was not the allegations, the question was as to how to answer them and "how can I bribe the unnamed persons", the senior lawyer said.
"Haste makes waste. Haste creates mistakes," Singhvi said adding that the petition contained "blanket" and "vague" allegations which cannot be sustained in an election petition.
The advancing of arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on September 6.
"A M Singhvi, senior counsel for the petitioner commenced his arguments. Put up for further hearing on September 06," the bench noted in its order.
Earlier, the apex court had asked the Gujarat High Court not to proceed with the hearing on a plea filed by a BJP leader challenging Patel's election, after framing of issues in the case.
It had also issued the notice to BJP leader Balwantsinh Rajput on the appeal of Patel seeking a stay on the proceedings before the high court in the matter.
Rajput had lost the election to Patel and had later challenged the election in the high court.
The senior Congress leader has challenged the April 22 order of the high court which had dismissed his plea.
He had contended before the High Court that the election petition was "not at all maintainable" and should be "dismissed at the threshold" as it violated the provisions of the Representation of People's Act, 1951.
The plea said the decision of the poll panel cannot be challenged in an election petition.
"Election Application was preferred by the Petitioner (Rajput) under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC praying for dismissal of the Election Petition for non disclosure of cause of action," it said, while seeking a stay on the proceedings before the Gujarat High Court.
Patel was elected to the Rajya Sabha last year after defeating Rajput, who had earlier quit Congress to join the BJP.
The win for the Congress leader had come after the Election Commission had cancelled the votes of rebel Congress MLAs, Bhola Bhai Gohil and Raghav Bhai Patel.
This had brought down the requirement for an outright victory for a candidate to 44 from 45.
Soon after Patel got elected, Rajput had filed a petition in the high court challenging the poll panel's decision to invalidate the votes of the two rebel MLAs.
Had these votes been counted, he would have defeated Patel, Rajput had contended in the High Court.
In his petition in the high court, Rajput had also alleged that Patel had taken the party MLAs to a resort in Bengaluru before the election, which, he claimed, amounted to bribing the voters.
Patel had challenged Rajput's plea and sought its dismissal for not serving the respondents an attested copy of the petition as required under the law.
The high court, however, rejected his plea and said the petitioner had substantially complied with the provisions of law and the defects could be easily cured.
Patel moved the top court against the high court order, saying that Rajput's petition was "devoid of merits" and failed to show any "cause of action".