Ahemdabad: The Gujarat High Court recently dismissed a petition requesting the Election Commission (EC) to conduct a by-election for the Visavadar assembly seat, which has been vacant since the resignation of its sitting MLA ten months ago.

In its October 4 ruling, the court stated that a by-election in this constituency cannot occur due to a pending petition from a losing candidate contesting the results against the winning nominee. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Kailash Savaliya, who sought the court’s intervention for the EC to hold a by-election in Junagadh district. The seat became vacant on December 13, 2023, after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Bhupendra Bhayani resigned and subsequently joined the ruling BJP.

The court explained that a by-election cannot be held while the petition is pending. The bench further noted that even in cases of a winning candidate’s death, election petitions remain valid, as the right to seek a declaration as an elected candidate is granted to those challenging the election results.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that according to Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), the EC must declare a by-election if the remainder of the elected member’s term exceeds one year. He also pointed out that Section 86 of the RPA mandates that election petitions be resolved within six months, asserting that the EC cannot refuse to conduct a by-election solely based on the petition’s pending status.

However, the court dismissed these arguments, stating that neither the EC nor the state government has control over the election petition proceedings. The bench also noted that a separate civil application has been filed in the High Court, which has issued a notice to the EC regarding the delay in the Visavadar by-election. DeshGujarat