The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it is not the one-stop shop for all the problems in the country.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice A.S. Bopanna, Justice V. Ramasubramanian was hearing a plea filed by BJP leader Okram Henry Singh seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India to hold by-elections to the post of MLA of 15-Wangkhei Assembly seat in Manipur in accordance with the provisions of Section 151 A of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi was appearing for the BJP leader and pressed for the relief.
CJI Bobde replied that, “We are not the one stop for all the problems in the country.” He also directed the petitioner to withdraw the petition and approach the High Court.
The petitioner was elected as a MLA from Wangkhei Assembly Constituency, Manipur. The term of the said 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly was originally from March 2017 to March 2022. At the time of getting elected, the petitioner was with the Indian National Congress.
But the petitioner said that due to ideological differences, he resigned as MLA of the said party and joined another political party in August 2020. The resignation of the petitioner was accepted by the Manipur Legislative Assembly on August 11, 2020.
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Hence, according to the petitioner, the Election Commission is under an obligation to conduct by-election within a period of 6 months.