PANAJI
In a landmark ruling, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has cancelled the Ponda by-election that was scheduled to be held on April 9, stating that the elected MLA would not be able to serve a minimum tenure of one year.
The verdict was delivered less than 24 hours before the scheduled polling. The Court agreed with the petitioners’ contention that the tenure requirement could not be fulfilled under the present circumstances.
Speaking to the media, Advocate Rama Rivankar said, “We argued that from the date of the demise of late MLA Ravi Naik on October 15, 2025, the one-year duration should be calculated. However, the bench held that the one-year tenure begins from the date the newly elected candidate takes office, which would not meet the required duration.”
The Court also dismissed the plea of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which had sought a stay on the order. The ECI argued that the tenure should be calculated from the date the seat fell vacant, which would have allowed the MLA to serve for more than a year.
Petitioners had contended that conducting the by-election would be unnecessary and would burden the public exchequer, as the elected representative would effectively serve for less than 10 months, likely attending only one Assembly session.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had fielded Ritesh Naik, son of former minister Ravi Naik. The Indian National Congress had nominated Ketan Bhatikar, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fielded Geetesh Naik. The Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) had opted out of contesting the election.
