'Once people reject you...': CJI-led SC bench dismisses Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj's claims on Bihar elections

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea by Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party seeking to nullify the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections over alleged cash inducements to voters, sharply questioning the party’s stand after its electoral defeat, Bar and Bench reported. 

During the hearing, the Supreme Court Bench was quoted as saying by the legal news outlet, "How many votes did you get? Once people reject you, you use the judicial forum to get relief! Somebody should have challenged the scheme itself then. That is not the prayer before us. You just want the election to be declared null and void." 

The Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, declined to examine the matter on merits and directed the petitioner to approach the concerned High Court, noting that the dispute was confined to a single state.

"Since it deals with only one State, please go to that High Court. In some cases, there is a serious issue of freebies, which we will seriously examine," the Bench added.

Jan Suraaj, which contested 242 out of Bihar's 243 Assembly constituencies but failed to win a single seat, moved the apex court alleging that the Nitish Kumar-led government influenced voters by rolling out a welfare cash transfer scheme while the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in force.

The controversy centred on the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which was launched ahead of the assembly polls held in November last year. Under this scheme, ₹10,000 was transferred to 21-25 lakh women for self-employment, along with a promise of financial support of up to ₹2 lakh after due assessment.

According to Jan Suraaj's petition, access to the scheme was linked to enrolment with JEEVIKA, Bihar’s network of women self-help groups, and fresh registrations were allowed during the period. The party argued that while around one crore women were already part of the network before the MCC, the number of beneficiaries later rose to approximately 1.56 crore, which it claimed disturbed the level playing field.

On these grounds, the Jan Suraaj sought directions for fresh elections in the state and requested the court to ask the Election Commission of India to frame guidelines on welfare announcements made close to polling. The Supreme Court, however, declined to intervene and said the matter should be pursued before the appropriate High Court.