Supreme Court agrees to hear Somnath Bharti's plea against election of BJP MLA Satish Upadhyay from Malviya Nagar

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti challenging Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Satish Upadhyay's election from Delhi's Malviya Nagar constituency in the 2025 assembly polls.

The plea challenging the Delhi High Court's January 17 judgment upholding Upadhyay's election came up before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

The Bench then said it will hear the case in detail.

"We will grant leave and hear it," the Court stated.

Upadhyay defeated Bharti, a three-time MLA from Malviya Nagar, by a margin of around 2,100 votes, ending Bharti’s uninterrupted hold over the seat since 2013.

Following the loss, Bharti filed an election petition alleging corrupt practices under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

In his petition, Bharti claimed that Upadhyay failed to disclose information relating to a pending criminal complaint or FIR, which, he argued, was mandatory under election law. Bharti contended that the alleged non-disclosure materially affected the election outcome and rendered Upadhyay’s nomination invalid.

Bharti further alleged that Upadhyay used cars to transport voters to the booths and manipulated the voters' list. Most notably, he claimed that Upadhyay funded and colluded with Congres candidate Jitender Kumar Kochar, to run a campaign exclusively targeting Bharti, intending to divide the vote and secure an unfair advantage.

Upadhyay challenged the assertions, stating that the allegations were false.

Justice Jasmeet Singh of Delhi High Court dismissed the plea on January 17, prompting the present appeal before the apex court.

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