Supreme Court rejects plea by Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party to defer Bihar bye-election

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by former election strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party seeking directions to defer the upcoming bye-elections in Bihar [Jan Suraaj Party v Union of India and anr].A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the plea was filed citing chhath puja but the same was already over."It (chhath Puja) is over. We should not interfere," the Court said. "My lords importance of Chhath cannot be denied. I acknowledge it is over. But they have deferred for other States," Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi pointed out on behalf of the petitioner-party."There is hangover of it in Bihar," Justice Kant asked. "Festive hangover is the right word (smiles). Arbitrarily others were postponed. Distinction made without difference, lordships have to evaluate," Singhvi replied. "All arrangements are made. Everything is deployed. Not a matter for us (to interfere)," the Court said..Bye-elections to four assembly seats are scheduled to be held on November 13. The petitioner moved the Court praying that present date of November 13 be rescheduled on account of the four-day Chhath Puja starting from November 6.It was argued that the Election Commission (EC) had failed to respond or act on their representations in this regard despite deferring by-elections in other States.The timing of the elections have left parties with no time to campaign and will impact voter turnout, it was contended..Singhvi then requested the Court to direct the EC to consider the party's representation."Let EC hear me today. Two representations pending," he said.Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, also appearing for the petitioner, contended that the campaigning was affected due to the festivities.The Court however rejected the argument."None of the major parties have complained. It is too late now to entertain this. Nothing on merits," the Court said while dismissing the plea..The plea was filed through Karanjawala & Co with advocates Ruby Singh Ahuja Advocate, Vedant Verma, Vishal Gehrana, Akanksha Thapa and Piyush Sharma appearing for the political party..[Live Coverage Below]