The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused to conduct an expedited hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea that has challenged the announcement of the Bhabanipur Assembly by-poll for being “unconstitutional”, and posted the matter for hearing on September 20.
Petitioner and lawyer Sabyasachi Chatterjee had told the court last week, “The chief secretary wrote only one letter to the [Election] Commission. Why did the chief secretary of a state ask for a vote in a particular constituency? The chief secretary cannot decide who will be the chief minister. Why was the polling day fixed only in the context of his letter? There are still by-elections in four other constituencies. This decision is unconstitutional.”
With the Election Commission (EC) having announced the by-poll date on September 4, acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal asked why it took the petitioner so much time after the notification of the poll date to file the plea. The EC has already said that the petition is not acceptable.
Lawyer Bikashranjan Bhattacharya who represented the petitioner asked the court why the by-polls in four more constituencies were not announced.
“There is a big difference between a general election and a by-election. Once the Covid situation is resolved, voting can still take place,” he added.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/west-bengal-calcutta-hc-set-to-hear-pil-against-bhabanipur-bypoll-on-sept-20-7507173/