No bypoll in Akola West assembly seat, says Bombay High Court; sets aside EC notification

A division bench of Justices Anil Killor and MS Jawalkar declared that there shall be no by-election in the assembly segment, which fell vacant after its sitting MLA died late last year, as the new member will get less than one year to represent the constituency.

Nagpur: The Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench on Tuesday set aside the Election Commission (EC) notification issued for holding bypoll in the Akola West assembly constituency in Maharashtra.

The bye-elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly were scheduled for 26 April during the Phase-2 of the Lok Sabha polls.

The division bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice M S Jawalkar struck down the notification on the grounds that less than one year remains to end the present Assembly’s term.

The high court verdict came in response to a PIL filed by local resident Anil Dubey, praying to set aside the EC schedule of 16 March proposing to conduct the by-election in the constituency along with the Lok Sabha polls.

The petitioner argued that the remaining tenure of the new MLA will be less than one year. Assembly polls in Maharashtra are due in October. Dubey contended that the tenure of the newly-elected legislator would be less than one year, and there was no need to spend money on the by-polls for such a short period.

The court observed that the new incoming member would get a period of less than one year and therefore it (holding bypoll) would be a violation of section 151 (A) of the Representation of the People Act. The same interpretation was considered by the Bombay High Court in the Saoner constituency case in 2019, it noted.

The bench said in the order that the "EC notification dated March 16 to the extent of Akola West constituency has been set aside and it is declared that there shall be no by-election in the segment."

The assembly seat fell vacant after its sitting MLA Govardhan Sharma of the BJP died on November 3, 2023.

With PTI inputs.