{Karnal by-election} HC to pronounce judgment on plea challenging ECI move today

The Punjab and Haryana high court would pronounce its judgment on Wednesday in a plea challenging Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to hold Karnal by-election.

The plea from one Kunal Chanana was taken up by the bench of justice Sudhir Singh and justice Harsh Bunger and after hearing arguments from petitioner and respondents, the bench reserved the judgment for final orders for Wednesday.

The plea argues that the commission cannot hold by-elections because the remainder of the duration of Haryana state assembly’s term was less than one year.

The seat had fallen vacant on March 13 after the resignation of former Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, who resigned immediately after Nayab Singh Saini’s government had passed floor test in the state assembly. BJP has fielded Saini from Karnal assembly seat, who must get elected as a member of legislative assembly within six months to remain as chief minister. The assembly elections in the state are slated for October this year.

The plea had argued that the proviso (a) of Section 151-A of Representation of Peoples Act, would reveal that the ECI had no power to hold by-election in case the term of assembly was less than one year. The petitioner had also cited recent decision of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court, where by-election notified for Akola constituency in Maharashtra was quashed on March 26 on the same grounds.

As per the ECI, the proviso (a) to Section 151- A did not bar the ECI to hold any by-election where the remainder of the term of the vacancy was less than one year. “A by-election may be held even where the vacancy is for less than a year in certain contingencies. One such contingency arises when the Election Commission has to enable a person to contest elections, who has become a minister or chief minister without being a member of the legislative assembly or legislative council, …within six months of assuming such office,” the ECI has said adding that the commission, as a matter of “consistent policy”, provided an opportunity to the person appointed as minister, who was not a member of the appropriate legislature at the time of his such appointment and conducted elections within six months period, irrespective of the term left of the House.

It further added that the ECI has provided opportunity to the chief minister, who happens to be the leader of the House to get elected within a period of six months from the date of assuming office and cited examples of elections of Tosham assembly constituency in Haryana in 1986, Laxmipur assembly constituency in Odisha in 1999 and Northern Angami-1 assembly constituency in Nagaland in 2017 and now Karnal segment in Haryana. In all these cases the House term left was of less than one year.