Greeva Garg –
Published on: September 10, 2021, at 10:18 IST
The Calcutta High Court has accepted a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), alleging the September 30 bypoll to the Bhabanipur Assembly seat to be unconstitutional.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting elections through that constituency.
Sabyasachi Chatterjee, the petitioner, told the Court that the Chief Secretary of the State wrote a letter to the poll panel requesting to conduct the by-elections in Bhabanipur as Mamata Banerjee will contest from there.
“It was told that deadline will end in November. The chief secretary also said that the Chief Minister would contest from Bhabanipur and if the by-election is not held on time, there will be administrative exigencies in the State. Why should a bureaucrat mention about who will contest from Bhabanipur in his letter to the Commission?” the petition stated.
Challenging the letter, petitioner further contended, “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.”
Bharatiya Janata Party ministers has not welcomed the decision of conducting by-election, stating that, it was aimed for Mamata Banerjee to continue being Chief Minister.
In context to the PIL, the High Court has served notices to all the parties involved including State Government and Election Commissioner.
The Court has posted the matter for next hearing on 13 September.
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