PIL hearing on Pratibha's nomination on July 3

New Delhi, July 2: The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a PIL seeking to cancel the nomination papers of UPA-Left Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil on the grounds that several cases of financial irregularities were pending against her.

A two-judge Vacation Bench, comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and P K Balasubramanyan, will hear the petitioner, advocate M L Sharma, who has alleged in his petition that Pratibha Patil was unfit to contest the elections.

The petitioner claimed that under Articles 58(c) and Article 102(1)(c) of the Constitution the UPA candidate was an 'undischarged insolvent' and hence technically disqualified from contesting the polls.

He claimed that she owed Rs 17.7 crore to the Mumbai District Cooperative Bank which has sought attachment of her properties for the due amount. The petitioner also alleged that funds collected from employees for Kargil victims had not been deposited with the exchequer.

The petitioner charged that though these allegations had been levelled against her, she had not officially responded to it either to the Election Commission, which would scrutinize the papers nor said anything about it.

The petition also sought a court direction to force her to officially reply to these allegations.

The court, though, dismissed another petition seeking to do away with a rule which mandates that each Presidential nomination paper be proposed by 50 members and seconded by at least 50 elected members of the Houses of Parliament.

UNI