The Calcutta High Court on Thursday accepted a public interest litigation alleging that the announcement of bypoll to the Bhabanipur Assembly seat was “unconstitutional”. Chief Minister Mamata Banjeree is the TMC candidate from the seat.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal said the case could be heard next Monday.
In the court, petitioner and lawyer Sabyasachi Chatterjee informed the court, “The chief secretary wrote only one letter to the (election) commission. Why did the chief secretary of a state ask for a vote in a particular constituency? The chief secretary cannot decide who will be the chief minister. Why was the polling day fixed only in the context of his letter? There are still by-elections in four other constituencies. This decision is unconstitutional.”
The Election Commission had last week declared that bypolls to Bhabanipur, Samserganj and Jangipur would be held on September 30. The decision came a day after lawyer Rama Prasad Sarkar filed a PIL demanding the Bhabanipur bypoll.