New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea of the former political strategist Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) seeking to defer the November 13 byelection in Bihar.
A Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the plea was filed citing chhath Pooja but the same was already over.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Prashant Kishore said that Chhath Pooja is an important festival, and in other states the bypolls have also been deferred.
The Court said ‘we should not interfere, It (chhath Puja) is over. Is there a hangover of it in Bihar,” Justice Kant asked.
Justice Kant said, that since all arrangements are made, everything is deployed, we cannot interfere at this stage.
By-election to four assembly seats are scheduled to be held on November 13.
Prashant Kishore moved the Court praying to rescheduled the election date of November 13 as four-day Chhath Puja starting from November 6 had come in between.
Singhvi argued that the Election Commission (EC) had failed to respond or act on their representations in this regard despite deferring the byelection in other States.
The timing of the byelection have left parties with no time to campaign and will impact voter turnout, Singhvi contended.
Singhvi then requested the Court to atleast direct the EC to consider the party’s representation.
Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, also appearing for the petitioner, contended that the campaigning was affected due to the festivities.
The Court however rejected the argument saying it is too late now. None of the major parties have complained, the Court said and dismissed the plea.
The plea was filed through Law Firm Karanjawala & Co. Advocates Ruby Singh Ahuja, Vedant Verma, Vishal Gehrana, Akanksha Thapa and Piyush Sharma appeared for the political party.
