The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party seeking to postpone the Bihar by-elections.
The bypolls for the Ramgarh, Tarari, Belaganj, and Imamganj assembly constituencies in Bihar are scheduled to be held on November 13.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that it was too late to intervene in the scheduled by-polls. The court described the issue as a matter of policy, stating that it was not within the judiciary’s purview to interfere in such decisions. It also noted that all necessary arrangements for the elections had already been made.
“You are a new political party, and you need to understand these challenges,” the bench remarked, pointing out that no other political parties had raised concerns about the timing of the elections.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Jan Suraaj Party, argued that the timing of the by-elections conflicted with the Chhath Puja festival, which is of great significance in Bihar.
The party claimed that the Election Commission had rescheduled elections in other states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Kerala, to avoid clashes with religious events, but had not extended the same consideration for Bihar.