The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a plea challenging the Election Commission’s decision to hold separate bypolls for two Rajya Sabha seats which fell vacant in Gujarat.
The seats fell vacant on the election of BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani to the Lok Sabha.
A Vacation Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B.R. Gavai asked the petitioner, Gujarat Congress leader Pareshbhai Dhanani, to file an election petition before the Gujarat High Court.
“This issue after the issuance of the Election Commission notification, can only be challenged through an election petition. That is the statutory position,” the Bench remarked.
The counsel appearing for the poll panel had earlier argued that the petition in such issues could not be entertained.
In his plea, Mr. Dhanani, the Opposition leader in the Gujarat Assembly, contended that the conduct of election for each vacancy separately would only lead to one result — the victory of the party which commanded a simple majority in the State legislature.
“This would turn the very objective of proportional representation, i.e. to give each minority group an effective share as per its strength, on its head,” he said in his plea.
Of the 183 seats in the Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 100 and the Congress 71.
The petition, filed through advocate Varun K. Chopra, submitted that though the Congress was a minority in the Assembly, it had the requisite numbers to proportionately elect members to the Rajya Sabha.
“The BJP which is running the government at the Centre, in order to somehow have its party rule the Rajya Sabha despite not having complete proportion to elect both seats to Council of States, is trying to use the Respondent’s [ECI] office to somehow impede the mandate under the RP (Representation of the People) Act,” the petition stated.
Mr. Dhanani’s petition sought a direction to the poll panel to hold simultaneous byelections and polling for filling of all vacancies in all States, including Gujarat for the Rajya Sabha.