On Monday, the Apex Court stayed an order of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, which had restricted political rallies in the state for the upcoming by-polls, & left it to the Election Commission to take appropriate steps in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, also pulled up political parties for creating a situation that compelled the HC to intervene.
If the parties had acted in a proper way & had maintained protocol, this situation would not have arisen in the first place, the bench observed. "You must ask yourself who is responsible for this situation in the first place," it added.
The Supreme Court was hearing 2 separate petitions filed by the Election Commission & BJP leader Pradyumn Singh Tomar against the order of the HC imposing conditions in conducting physical gatherings by political parties for campaigning for the assembly bye-polls.
"Take charge, ensure you discharge your duties in a manner that's in the best interest of everyone. High Court need not have interfered had you done your job better," the bench further observed & listed the matter for further hearing after 6 weeks.
The Election Commission had moved the Supreme Court saying conducting election was in sole jurisdiction of the Election Commission & that the HC had no power to interfere.
BJP candidate Pradyumn Singh Tomar, contesting bye-election from Gwalior, had contended that the interim order of the HC has violated his right to conduct election campaign through physical gatherings as permitted by the Election Commission, Central Govt & the State Govt.
The Gwalior bench of the Madhya Pradesh HC had restrained District Magistrates in 9 districts from giving permission to any political party or its candidate for any physical public meeting irrespective of its size if there is a possibility of a virtual election campaign.
The districts include Gwalior, Guna, Morena, Bhind, Ashok Nagar, Datia, Shivpuri, Sheopur, & Vidisha. Voting on 28 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh by-polls will take place on Nov 3 & the results will be declared on Nov 10.
By-elections are due on 28 seats following the resignation of 25 MLAs & the death of 3 legislators earlier. In the 230-member assembly, the BJP has currently 107 MLAs & Congress 88. There are four independent MLAs, two from BSP & one from Samajwadi Party.
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