[ad_1]
The Bombay High Court on Monday termed the stand taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that it would not be possible to hold the bypoll for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency as it was busy with other polls in the country and preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as ‘hardly tenable’ and ‘unsustainable.’
The bench said it could understand the stand if elections were to be held in a place like Manipur, where there is unrest, but not in Maharashtra.
The Pune Lok Sabha constituency became vacant after the death of MP Girish Bapat on March 29.
A division bench of Justice Gautam S Patel and Justice Kamal R Khata was hearing a plea by a Pune resident against a certificate issued by ECI not to hold a bypoll to the Constituency.
The plea filed by one Sughosh Joshi from Pune was argued through advocates Kushal Mor, Shraddha Swarup and Dayaar Singla, who claimed that as per section 151A of the Representation of People Act,1951, the vacancy should be filled through bypoll within six months; therefore the same should have been held by September 28.
Joshi claimed that the constituents had no voice in Parliament over the past few months, especially for issues related to significant delays in several developmental projects in Pune.
The high court, on December 7, said it prima facie did not concur with the reasoning given by ECI that in case bypolls are held, the returned candidate would hardly have three-four months of work as MP and it would also affect the preparatory activities for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It had sought to know why the ECI could not hold the bypolls.
On Monday, advocate Pradeep Rajgopal for the ECI submitted that it could not hold the elections as it was busy with other polls and the preparatory activities for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The election body further said that if the bypolls are held now, the term for the new MP would be less than a year.
“They (ECI) are saying they are busy with the other elections so they cannot hold these elections. We understand if they say they cannot hold elections in a place like Manipur where there is physical unrest (but not in Maharashtra),” the bench remarked.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that the bypolls were held in other constituencies this year after the vacancy arose in the Pune constituency. The high court directed the petitioner to place the details in an affidavit and posted further hearing on Wednesday, December 13.
The lawyers for the petitioner had claimed that not conducting a bypoll was in violation of the electorate’s right, as the statutory compliances and reasons given by the ECI were not valid.
[ad_2]
