PIL on bypoll curbs: Centre apt authority to take call, EC tells SC

New Delhi, April 2

As a PIL seeks directions to bar lawmakers disqualified under the anti-defection law from contesting byelections during the same term of the House, the Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that it has no role to play in it as the Centre is the appropriate authority to take a call in the matter.

“The issue involved in this matter pertains to the interpretation of Article 191(1)(e) of the Constitution. It relates to matters that do not have a nexus with the conduct of elections in terms of the remit of the Commission under Article 32. Therefore, the Centre is the appropriate party for the adjudication of the prayers made in the present petition,” the EC said in an affidavit filed in the top court in response to Congress leader Jaya Thakur’s PIL.

Alleging a concerted pan-India effort by political parties to render the Constitution’s 10th Schedule — anti-defection law — as otiose and redundant, Thakur said the import of the provisions of Article 191(1)(e) of the Constitution and its consequential effect on an MP/MLA, who suffered disqualification on account of defection, would have to be considered by the top court.