Bengaluru: HC dismisses PILs against by-polls to three Lok Sabha seats

Bengaluru: The HC on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions, questioning the legality of byelections to Mandya, Shivamogga and Ballari Lok Sabha constituencies. The PILs argued that it was contrary to the law and that money is being wasted to hold the elections, despite the fact that the term for to-be-elected members is just about six months.

A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, dismissed the PILs filed by Advocates’ Association Bengaluru president A.P. Ranganatha and others. The petitions contended that Section 154A(a) of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 has to be interpreted in such a way that byelections should not be held if the term available for the new member is less than one year from the date of election, and not the term left from the date from which the seat became vacant. The Election Commission made it clear that vacancy in the two constituencies Ballari and Shivamogga occurred on May 18, 2018, and for Mandya on May 21, 2018 and the term of 16th Lok Sabha ends on June 3, 2019.