Supreme Court Rejects Prashant Kishor's Party's Plea To Defer Bihar Bye-Elections

The Supreme Court on Monday (November 11) refused to entertain a petition filed by Prashant Kishor's newly launched party - the Jan Suraaj Party - seeking postponement of bye-elections of four seats in Bihar, on account of Chhath Puja celebrations.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that it was too late to interfere with the elections, which are scheduled for November 13.

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the petitioner, submitted that the Election Commission deferred bye-elections for 3 other states, which were notified in the same notification as Bihar, taking into account religious festivals. It was his contention that Bihar was denied similar benefit by the Election Commission, discriminately and arbitrarily.

"They did it for Kerala, UP, Punjab...why not for Bihar? Postponement (by 2 weeks) will not affect anything", he submitted.

Hearing him, the bench observed that the Chhath Puja celebrations were already over. In reply, Singhvi said that the petitioner's concern was regarding elections being scheduled just 4-5 days after Chhath Puja, during which time many people may be travelling and campaigning time would be lost.

The bench however conveyed its reluctance to interfere in an election matter, that too, at such advanced stage. "To the extent possible we should not interfere with elections...all arrangements are made, forces are deployed...so many strategic decisions taken," Justice Kant remarked. The judge also said that the Court does not possess the expertise to decide whether people would prefer contesting close to Chhath Puja days or avoid it.

Case Title: JAN SURAAJ PARTY Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ANR., W.P.(C) No. 742/2024

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