HC quashes ECI notification for April 9 Ponda Assembly by-election in Goa

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday declared as “null and void” the Election Commission of India’s notification for the Ponda Assembly byelection, effectively cancelling the April 9 poll.

Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar of the Goa bench of the HC passed the order on petitions filed by two voters who had challenged the validity of the notification on the ground that less than one year of the current assembly’s term is left.

The byelection was necessitated by the death of former Goa minister Ravi Naik in October last year. The ECI had notified polling for April 9 and counting on May 4. The petitioners argued that under the Representation of the People Act, holding a byelection is not mandatory if the remainder of the Assembly’s term is less than one year. The new MLA would serve only for a few months, they pointed out.