Supreme Court accepts Election Commission schedule for Maniktala by-polls

The Election Commission of India (ECI) today handed over to the Supreme Court a schedule for the conduct of by-polls in the Maniktala constituency of West Bengal, which has remained without a legislator to represent it in the State Legislative Assembly for over two years [Suvendu Dey and Ors vs Election Commission of India and Ors]..Notably, the ECI handed over the proposed election schedule in sealed covers to the Vacation Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan.The ECI explained that any public announcement of the schedule would immediately bring the model code of conduct (MCC) into force.The Court proceeded to dispose of a petition raising a grievance that the constituency does not have a State-level public representative."We have to now given this a quietus. They (ECI) have acted with great expedition and alacrity," Justice Viswanathan remarked before the Court closed the petition..The petitioners before the Court were residents of the Maniktala constituency. They told the Supreme Court that the non-cooperation and non-appearance of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kalyan Chaubey in an election petition filed by him before the Calcutta High Court was delaying the notification of by-polls for the constituency. Chaubey had lost the contest in the West Bengal assembly elections of 2021 from the Maniktala seat to Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) leader Sadhan Pande. In his election petition before the High Court, Chaubey had challenged the election of Pande, who passed away in 2022 while the matter was pending.Residents from the area later alleged that Chaubey's failure to appear before the High Court in this case was delaying its disposal and, consequently, preventing the election commission from issuing a by-poll notification..In August 2023, the top court requested the Calcutta High Court to expedite the hearing of the election petition.In April this year, the Supreme Court issued a show-cause notice to Chaubey in the matter, while taking critical note that the BJP leader appeared to be willfully defying court orders. At the time, the Court also asked Chaubey to explain why he should not be relieved from the posts of President of All India Football Federation (AIFF) and joint secretary of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). On May 6, the Supreme Court observed that Chaubey could be allowed to withdraw his election petition. The petition was accordingly withdrawn from the High Court days later, leaving no legal hurdle for the notification of by-polls. .Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat appeared for the petitioners before the Supreme Court. Senior Advocate PS Patwalia appeared for Chaubey.