The Supreme Court declined to grant a stay on the Karnal Assembly bye-election, while leaving the question of necessity open for consideration. The court decided not to halt the election process at present but may revisit the matter to determine its necessity at a later stage.
NEW DELHI: Today (April 26), the Supreme Court rejected the plea to stay the bye-election for the Karnal Assembly constituency in Haryana. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had previously upheld the conduct of the bye-poll. Although the Court refused to interfere with the election, it left the question of whether the bye-election was necessary, given that the assembly elections are less than a year away.
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On Friday, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and PS Narasimha declined to grant a stay on the Karnal Assembly bye-poll.
Justice Kant dismissed the plea by Kunal Chanana, stating,
“Your purpose was to stall the elections, we will not allow that.”
However, the Court did not settle the question of whether the bye-election was essential, considering that the assembly elections are scheduled for October this year.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Haryana government and opposed the petition. Senior Counsel Maninder Singh and advocate Ankit Agarwal represented the ECI, while Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for one of the candidates contesting the polls.
Background
The Karnal seat became vacant on March 13 after the resignation of former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to facilitate the appointment of the new Chief Minister, Nayab Singh Saini.
In response to the bye-poll announcement by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Kunal Chanana filed a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, arguing that the election should not be conducted as the current tenure of the Haryana Legislative Assembly is less than a year.
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The High Court, on April 3, dismissed the plea challenging the ECI’s decision to hold the Karnal bye-election. Following this, Kunal Chanana appealed to the Supreme Court.
During the Supreme Court hearing, it was observed that different High Courts had expressed varying opinions on whether bye-polls should be allowed in such cases. The Court did not intervene in the bye-poll but left the question of law open for future consideration.
