Anantnag by-poll: HC seeks MHA's reply

Mir Farhat. Updated: 11/24/2017 1:12:50 AM Front Page


SRINAGAR: A month after the state government submitted to it -for the first time since April 2017-that the environment in Kashmir is still not conducive for holding the elections for the Anantnag parliament seat, the State High Court on Thursday directed the Government of India's Ministry of Home Affairs to file reply on holding of by-elections which were postponed following violence during polling in Srinagar parliamentary segment in April this year.
A month earlier, on October 24, the coalition PDP-BJP government in a representation made through Chief Electoral Officer of the state had submitted that the ground realities have been constantly assessed by the Election Commission of India which was of the view that the situation here is not good enough for holding Parliamentary elections.
As court heard the matter on Thursday, a single bench comprising of Justice Tashi Rabstan sought reply from Union Ministry of Home Affairs through its counsel Tahir Majid Shamshi (ASGI), who submitted in the court that the reply of Home Ministry is important in the matter as such "some more time be granted to him".
The court was hearing a writ petition filed by one Ghulam Mohammad Wani of Pulwama- contestant for the seat on All J&K Kissan Mazdoor Party ticket-seeking holding of bye-election for the Anantnag Parliamentary seat as early as possible.
"The inaction of the respondents have denied the sizable population of their basic right of participation in democracy and denied the petitioner of his right to contest for house of people. Respondents have failed to follow the procedure laid by the law on the point, relevant section of the representation of peoples Act 1951," Wani had submitted in the petition.
It may be recalled here that there is no representation to the issues of people of South Kashmir's Anantnag Constituency in the Lok Sabha for the last over one year, as the parliamentary seat fell vacant on July 4 last year after Mehbooba Mufti resigned from the lower house of the Parliament to take over as Chief Minister of the state to fill the political vacuum created after her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's demise on January 7, 2016 in New Delhi's AIIMS hospital due to multiple organ failure.
On March 9 this year, the ECI announced the full schedule for conducting the by-polls to the twin Lok Sabha constituencies of Srinagar and Anantnag that became vacant due to the resignation of Tariq Hameed Qarra as MP from Srinagar Lok Sabha seat and PDP on September 15 and Mehbooba Mufti's resignation on July 4 last year to take over as Chief Minister.
As per the ECI schedule, the election to the Srinagar Parliamentary seat was to be conducted on April 9 while to the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat on April 12 but due to low turnout and massive violence on April 9 (the day Srinagar constituency went to the polls) that left 8 people dead and scores injured, the ECI, on the request of Tasadduq Mufti, the candidate for the South Kashmir seat, deferred the polls to May 25 this year.
Again on May 2 this year, the ECI "cancelled" the by-elections to the Anantnag Parliamentary seat due to "poor law and order situation" in the state.
Through an order, the commission said, "we decided on this course of action based on inputs received from various sources including the State Administration, Chief Election Officer, Jammu and Kashmir, Director General of Police, representatives of various political parties and candidates contesting the by-polls."
Since then (May 2, 2017), no fresh date has been given by the ECI to conduct the polls to the Anantnag Lok Sabha Constituency.


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