Plea in SC for holding elections in the state of Bihar instead to look upon the atrocities faced by people says petitioner

Plea in SC for holding elections in the state of Bihar, instead to look upon the atrocities faced by people says petitioner.

A petition was brought through the eyes of SC when petitioner stating the wrecked situation of Bihar due to the mass pandemic of Covid-19 and inevitable floods prayed before the court for not holding the elections till the state is declared Covid-19 free and get themselves saved from the entanglement of the floods, deteriorating the situations abruptly occurring in a haphazard manner. The plea was filed through Advocate Shantanu Sagar by Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal (petitioner).

The petitioner citing the atrocities the state is currently facing asked the court to order the directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for holding the assembly polls in the state of Bihar. He said that the upcoming elections will not only create an utter chaos but also jeopardize the interest of people in the state and government as well as would affect their decision and their right to vote. The contentions were dealt upon in the case of Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal v. Chief Election Commissioner and ors. where certain questions were raised in front of the court about the power of Election Commission of India under Article 324 of the Constitution to set a schedule for the election or if it is the President or the Governor that decides the schedule for polls after the ECI’s recommendation, additionally a pivotal question was brought into the limelight regarding the Court’s powers under its Article 32 jurisdiction and if they are wide enough to intervene in a subject matter of this nature.

The petitioner awaking the court and ECI about the prima facie ground reality of the situations in Bihar, prompted that – “Whether the approach of the ECI gives a total go by to the extraordinary situation prevailing in the entire world and more particularly in the State of Bihar and this Hon’ble Court cannot remain a passive spectator in this extraordinary situation and leave the Nation to the mercy of the EC…”, further stating the facts he said that 14 out of 38 total districts in Bihar are reeling under the floods and many people from these areas have been put up in relief camps. The actual threat of the spread of the pandemic more importantly, & simultaneous situation of the massive floods are a grand issue of the state to be pondered over. The COVID-19 cases in Bihar are on a great pace and rising as a forest fire.

By Nischay Pokhriyal

Plea in SC for holding elections in the state of Bihar, instead to look upon the atrocities faced by people says petitioner