The Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench has on April 26th quashed the Election Commission's notification to hold a by-election in Maharashtra's Akola West Assembly constituency. The division bench comprising Justice Anil Killor and M.S. Jawalkar announced that there will be no by-election in the assembly area. This seat became vacant following the death of the incumbent legislator at the end of the previous year. The court noted that if a by-election were to proceed, the new member would have less than a year to represent the electorate.
As reported by PTI, the High Court delivered the verdict on a petition filed by Akola resident Anil Dubey, pleading for the cancellation of the Election Commission's notification for a by-election issued in mid-March. The petitioner argued that the remaining term for a new legislator would be less than a year. The state of Maharashtra is slated for assembly elections this coming October.
Hearing the petition, the court expressed that the impending new member would receive a term of less than a year, thereby violating Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act. It was mentioned that a similar interpretation was considered by the Bombay High Court in the 2019 Savner constituency case.
The bench declared within the order that the Election Commission's notification dated March 16, specifically for the Akola West constituency, has been nullified and it has been asserted that there shall be no by-election in the region. The assembly seat became vacant following the demise of the incumbent BJP legislator Govardhan Sharma on November 3, 2023.
