New Delhi: The Delhi High Court, which heard Monday a writ petition against the delay in notification of dates for the Bijepur by-poll, issued a notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking its response on the issue within seven days.
The matter was discussed in the courtroom 16 for six minutes during which the petitioner contested that around five months have passed since the demise of the winning candidate from the constituency and the ECI is yet to issue a notification. This militates against Section 151A of the Representation of People’s Act, the counsels argued.
They told the court that the six-month time gap would elapse February 22 and as per the provisions of the Act, the by-poll should be conducted within six months. They said the ECI is yet to issue a notification on the matter leaving the people of the constituency without an elected leader.
The bench wanted to know from the representative of the ECI why such delay was made and no notification issued by the poll panel. Meanwhile, the standing council for the election commission sought a week’s time to file a reply in the court.
The bench after hearing the matter told the poll body to come up with their response and file an affidavit within seven days as requested by them.
The petitioner, however, sought a quicker response from the ECI. The high court adjourned the case and asked the parties to appear for the next hearing February 9.
PNN