The Bombay High Court at Goa has cancelled the notification to hold the Ponda assembly bypoll, just hours before voting was set to take place. The court's decision was made on a petition challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) move to hold the poll when the current assembly has less than a year left in its term.
The current Goa assembly is set to end on March 14, 2027, and the ECI had notified voting for April 9, with counting scheduled for May 4. However, the high court ruled that the notification was arbitrary and issued contrary to Clause (a) of proviso to Section 151-A of the Representation of the People's Act.
The court's decision was made in response to a petition by two voters who cited Section 151A, which states that the provisions requiring the Election Commission to hold elections to fill vacancies in a state assembly do not apply when "the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is less than one year".
The by-election was held following the death of former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik in October last year. The Congress party has accused the Election Commission of India of being a "puppet of the BJP" and has called the cancellation of the election a "dark day for democracy".
The BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had also fielded candidates for the election, with the BJP nominating Ravi Naik's son Ritesh Naik.
