PANAJI
Goa Congress candidate Ketan Bhatikar has moved the SupremeCourt challenging the decision of High Court of Bombay at Goa to cancel theby-election just 16 hours before polling. The matter is expected to be listedfor hearing later this week.
The by-election, scheduled for April 9, was declared nulland void by the High Court on the eve, citing that the elected MLA would not beable to complete the minimum one-year tenure.
Reacting to the cancellation, Ketan Bhatikar called ElectionCommission a puppet of BJP. He urged the postal ballot voters to request the ElectionCommission to either return ballots to the voter or tear the ballots in frontof the voters, in order to keep it confidential.
The High Court had ruled that the one-year tenure should becalculated from the date the newly elected MLA assumes office, rather than fromthe date the seat fell vacant following the death of former minister Ravi Naikon October 2025. This interpretation meant the elected representative wouldserve for less than a year.
Petitioners had argued that holding the by-election would beunnecessary and financially burdensome, as the MLA would effectively serve forless than 10 months, likely attending only one Assembly session.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had sought a stay on theorder, but its plea was dismissed by the High Court.
The Congress party has also questioned the delay inannouncing the by-election, noting that it was declared nearly five monthsafter Minister’s demise despite the one-year tenure rule. The party asked whythe election was not held within a shorter timeframe, pointing out that byMarch 2027, more than one and a half years would have passed since his death.
