The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking postponement of the Bihar Assembly Elections due to COVID-19 pandemic and floods happening in the state.
The Bench of Justice Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah declined to entertain the petition, terming it as “premature” and “misconceived”. The Bench opined that COVID-19 cannot be the reason for deferring polls and that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would factor in the prevailing situation while announcing dates for the polls.
The petitioner, Avinash Thakur, filed through Advocate Shantanu Sagar had sought a direction to the Chief Election Commissioner (CECI) to postpone the polls due to the floods and pandemic. He relied on the ground that the Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for the deferment of polls in extraordinary situations.
“COVID cannot be the ground for postponement of elections, especially when the notification declaring the election is not even issued. This is a misconceived petition under Article 32, we cannot entertain this petition.” Justice Bhushan directed.
“The Election Commission will take all the necessary precautions and consider everything. Why do you think they will not consider these things?”, MR Shah J. said.
On August 11, the Chief Election Commissioner had announced that Bihar election will be held as per schedule ignoring the fact that Bihar is grappling under COVID-19 and floods. The petitioner had also raised the question whether the Commission exercises its power under Article 324 of the Constitution, or the President/Governor decides the schedule for polls after the ECI’s recommendation.
