SC to hear tomorrow plea seeking deferment of Bihar bypolls

The Supreme Court is set to hear on Monday a plea seeking the postponement of by-elections to the four Assembly seats in Bihar in view of the week-long Chhath Puja.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan will hear the plea filed by Jan Suraaj Party on November 10.

Two days before, a bench headed by (then) CJI D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to consider the urgent listing of the plea after the matter was mentioned for an urgent hearing.

The plea filed before the apex court challenged the Election Commission’s "failure" to not defer the by-elections in Bihar while rescheduling the polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Kerala due to social and religious events. It said that by-elections in states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala etc. were rescheduled from November 13 to 20 on account of large-scale social and cultural gatherings that may impact the voter turnout. The plea added that similar conditions exist in Bihar and not deferring by-polls in Bihar was not only unjust but violated the right to equal treatment under Article 14 of the Constitution.

"The logistical issues and apprehension of reduced voter turnout are as much a concern in Bihar as they are in Uttar Pradesh. There is no reason whatsoever and no intelligible differentia, to warrant a different treatment for elections in Bihar," the plea, filed through Karanjawala & Co, contended.

Further, it said that deferring the four by-elections in Bihar would prevent inconvenience to a large number of voters, promote their participation in the electoral process, and strengthen the democratic process.

The plea said that "more than forty Chhath Puja organising committees have also written to the Election Commission of India on the same issue" and the failure of the poll body to not defer the dates violated the fundamental rights of the electorate at large. It added that the Election Commission’s conduct smacked of "arbitrariness" in whimsically changing the dates of some elections but not of others, when similar socio-religious circumstances are prevailing.

"Election Commission's selective treatment in processing deferment requests violates the basic principles of natural justice, as it disregards the petitioner's legitimate expectation of equal treatment," said the petition.