Talala bypoll: Gujarat HC notice to ECI
TNN | Mar 20, 2019, 11:25 IST
Representative imageThe Gujarat high court on Tuesday sought an explanation from the Election Commission of India (ECI) as to why it decided to announce the bypoll for the Talala assembly constituency immediately after Congress MLA Bhagabhai Barad was disqualified.
The ECI is expected to reply to the notice by next Monday. The high court asked why it should not stay the byelection in Talala over the hasty disqualification of Barad, in view of the Supreme Court’s order in the Bajrang Bahadur case.
Barad’s advocate Anshin Desai submitted that the SC order stipulated that the election commission has to take at least eight weeks before announcing an election on a vacant seat in a case of disqualification.
Barad challenged the ECI’s decision to announce the bypoll within 10 days of his conviction in a mineral theft case. He claimed that he had told the speaker of the assembly and the ECI about the appellate court’s stay on his conviction before the election notification was published. He has challenged the speaker’s order, saying that the power to disqualify him lay only with the governor.
Barad was sentenced to 33 months in prison on March 1. The speaker disqualified him on March 4. His conviction was stayed on March 7. The ECI announced the byelection on March 10.
The ECI is expected to reply to the notice by next Monday. The high court asked why it should not stay the byelection in Talala over the hasty disqualification of Barad, in view of the Supreme Court’s order in the Bajrang Bahadur case.
Barad’s advocate Anshin Desai submitted that the SC order stipulated that the election commission has to take at least eight weeks before announcing an election on a vacant seat in a case of disqualification.
Barad challenged the ECI’s decision to announce the bypoll within 10 days of his conviction in a mineral theft case. He claimed that he had told the speaker of the assembly and the ECI about the appellate court’s stay on his conviction before the election notification was published. He has challenged the speaker’s order, saying that the power to disqualify him lay only with the governor.
Barad was sentenced to 33 months in prison on March 1. The speaker disqualified him on March 4. His conviction was stayed on March 7. The ECI announced the byelection on March 10.
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