S Jaishankar files caveat in Supreme Court apprehending challenge to his election as Rajya Sabha MP

Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court in case his 2019 election to the Rajya Sabha is challenged before it..The development comes a week after the Gujarat High Court dismissed an election petition filed by Dr. Chandrikaben Chudasma, a Congress leader who challenged Jaishankar's election to the Rajya Sabha from the Gujarat Legislative Assembly..Dr. Chudasama had challenged the election of two BJP leaders - Jugalsinh Mathuji Lokhandwala and S Jaishankar - to the Rajya Sabha before the Gujarat High Court.Lokhandwala and Jaishankar were elected to the Upper House after the seats previously held by Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani and Home Minister Amit Shah had fallen vacant upon the latter's victories in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections..With a view to filling up the vacancies, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had issued notifications for holding separate by-polls for the two vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat..This move of the ECI was then challenged by Congress leader Paresh Dhanani before the Supreme Court. In June last year, the Court had dismissed the petition filed by Dhanani..Congress Leader Paresh Dhanani moves Supreme Court for simultaneous by-polls in two Gujarat Rajya Sabha seats.Subsequently, Dr. Chudasama filed election petitions in the Gujarat High Court, calling into question the election of Lokhandwala and Jaishankar. In response to this, Lokhandwala had filed an application to quash the election petitions filed by Dr. Chudasama. It was while hearing this application that a Single Judge Bench of Justice Bela Trivedi dismissed the challenge filed by the Dr. Chudasama.A separate petition challenging Jaishankar's election, filed by the Congress' Gaurav Pandya, is currently pending.In this backdrop, Jaishankar has now filed a caveat in the Supreme Court..Though Dr. Chudasama had filed an election petition assailing both ECI notifications calling for separate by-elections for both vacant seats, the High Court noted that Jaishankar was not added a respondent in the matter.."Therefore, the election of the returned candidate i.e. Mr. Subhramanyam (Jaishankar) elected pursuant to the first notification could not have been challenged by the petitioner under the guise of challenging both the notifications in the present Election Petition."Gujarat High Court.The Court also noted that Dr. Chudasama had filed an petition seeking identical reliefs earlier. This was dismissed by the High Court in September last year.