IN OCT-NOV, 2018, ECI HOWEVER CONDUCTED BYPOLL CONDUCTED ON 3 VACANT LS SEATS FROM KARNATAKA ALTHOUGH GENERAL ELECTIONS FOR 17TH LOK SABHA WERE THEN ONLY 6 MONTHS AHEAD
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On 3 Oct 2023, Anurag Aggarwal, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Haryana while addressing a Press Conference said there would be no Bye-Election on vacant Ambala ( SC Reserved) P.C. ( Parliamentary Constituency) in Haryana. Pertinent that this seat has been lying vacant since past four & a half months i.e. with effect from 18 May 2023 following the demise of then BJP MP Ratan Lal Kataria.
Meanwhile, Hemant Kumar, an Advocate at Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court has expressed utter surprise over the statement of CEO, Haryana as such sort of announcement ( regarding non conduct of Bye-Election) can only be made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) which currently has not uploaded any official information regarding the same on its website.
Earlier, on 29 Sep 2023, full six months passed since Pune P.C. in the State of Maharashtra also lying vacant i.e. with effect from 29 March 2023 however ECI neither conducted nor announced Bye-Election on ibid vacant Seat till date.
Furthermore, Hemant quipped that ECI has not even publicly made any proactive disclosure that it has been certified difficult by it to hold such bypoll within the said period (read within six months) as mandated under Section 151A of Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951 notwithstanding the fact that the remainder of the term of erstwhile M.P. from Pune P.C. viz. Girish Bhalchandra Bapat was more than one year left on the date of his death on 29 March 2023.
Amidst all this, Hemant recently wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, two Election Commissioners (ECs) viz. Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel along with senior officers in ECI
urging for making proactive public disclosure of reasons in this regard including, if so, that it has been certified by the ECI ( of course in consultation with the Central Government) that it is difficult to hold the Bye-Election within the said period as mandated/prescribed under Section 151A of RP Act, 1951.
(SUBHEAD)Hemant also recalled the Press Note Clarification issued vide number ECI/PN/70/2018 by the ECI on 9 Oct 2018 wherein the ECI duly defended its action in conducting ByPolls on then vacant three Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) a.k.a. Lok Sabha seats viz. Bellary (ST), Shimoga and Mandya PCs which fell vacant on 18 May 2018, 18 May 2018 and 21 May 2018 respectively although not in respect of then five vacant PCs from the State of Andhra Pradesh which however fell vacant on 20 June 2018.
The ECI in its aforementioned Press Note clarification mentioned that the term of (then) 16th Lok Sabha was upto 3 June 2019. As the 3 vacancies from Karnataka occurred more than one year before the expiration of the term of the House ( read 16th Lok Sabha), hence bye-elections are required to be held under Section 151 A of RP Act to fill such vacancies within six months from the date of occurrence of vacancies. In case of five vacancies from Andhra Pradesh, ECI mentioned that there was no need to hold bye-elections as the remaining term of the (16th) Lok Sabha was then less than one year from the date of occurrence of vacancies that is 20 June 2018.
Thus, the Polling for Bypoll on the aforementioned 3 vacant Lok Sabha seats from Karnataka viz. Bellary (ST), Shimoga and Mandya PCs were conducted on 3 Nov 2018 whereas the counting was done on 6 Nov 2018. One must remember at that time, next means General Elections to 17th Lok Sabha were only six months ahead i.e. scheduled in Apr-May 2019.
Be that as it may, Hemant asserted that ideally in respect of the above vacant Pune P.C. in the State of Maharashtra, such Bye-Election should have been conducted by the ECI well before 29 September 2023. Of course, it is also provided in the aforementioned Section 151 A of RP Act, 1951 that Bye-Election shall not be conducted if the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is less than one year.
Pertinent that the tenure of the current 17th Lok Sabha is till 16 June 2024. Hence the remainder of the tenure of earlier elected and now deceased M.P. from Pune P.C. viz. Late Girish Bhalchandra Bapat comes out to more than one year i.e. if calculated from the date of his death i.e. 29 March 2023 to 16 June 2024. Hence, Bye-Election should have been conducted by the ECI in case of Pune P.C. in the State of Maharashtra before 29 September 2023, quips Hemant.
The Advocate argues that a similar yardstick ought to have been applied in case of the vacant Pune P.C. in the State of Maharashtra which has been lying vacant with effect from 29 March 2023. He also cited the case of two other vacant Lok Sabha seats in the current 17th Lok Sabha viz. Ambala P.C. and Chandrapur P.C. in the State of Haryana & Maharashtra which are also lying vacant with effect from 18 May 2023 and 30 May 2023 respectively due to demise of earlier elected M.P.s viz. Ratan Lal Kataria and Balubhau Narayanrao alias Suresh Dhanorkar respectively from the aforementioned two P.Cs.
Hence, Bye-Election(s) ought to be also conducted in Ambala P.C. and Chandrapur P.C. too on the lines of Pune P.C.
As far as the case of one more vacant Lok Sabha seat viz. Ghazipur P.C. in the State of Uttar Pradesh is concerned, which has been declared vacant by Lok Sabha Secretariat with effect from 29 April 2023 due to disqualification (read under provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the RP Act, 1951) of earlier elected M.P. Afzal Ansari from the date of his conviction by a Court of Law, Hemant asserted that the call for holding Bye-Election on the aforementioned vacant Ghazipur P.C. would also have to be taken by ECI since the Hon'ble Allahabad High Court on 24 July 2023 has declined to stay Ansari's conviction which if it had stayed would have consequently restored his membership of Lok Sabha from Ghazipur P.C. in terms of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India Judgment in Re: Lok Prahari Vs ECI (Sep, 2018) as has happened in case of Rahul Gandhi, the M.P. from Wayanad P.C. in the State of Kerala whose conviction has been stayed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 4 August 2023. Meanwhile, last month Ansari also approached the Supreme Court of India praying for stay on his conviction pending disposal of his criminal appeal by the Allahabad HC. The Apex Court is scheduled to hear the matter on 10 Oct 2023.
