MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to immediately conduct a bypoll for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency that fell vacant after the demise of Lok Sabha MP Girish Bapat on March 29.
“In any parliamentary democracy, governance is done by elected representatives who are the voices of people. If the representative is no more, another must be put in place. People cannot go unrepresented. That is wholly unconstitutional and is a fundamental anathema to our constitutional structure,” the court said.
A division bench of Justice Patel and Justice Kamal R Khata was hearing a plea by Pune resident Sughosh Joshi against the ECI certificate. The plea 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 a bypoll within six months; therefore the same should have been held by September 28.
A division bench of Justice Gautam Patel and Justice Kamal Khata stated that the Election Commission stand to not hold elections, citing busyness with other polls and preparatory activities for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, was “bizarre and wholly unreasonable.”
The HC was hearing a petition filed by a Pune resident seeking to direct the election commission to hold the bypoll, as six months had already lapsed for the ECI to fill the vacancy as prescribed by the law.