In Brief
A voter challenged the High Court's decision dismissing a public interest petition against holding a bye-election in the Bhandara–Gondiya Lok Sabha constituency following an MP's resignation in December 2017. The petitioner argued that if elections were held in May 2018, the new representative would serve less than one year (until March 2019), making it wasteful. The Supreme Court affirmed the High Court, holding that Section 151A of the Representation of the People Act permits bye-elections where the remainder of the term exceeds one year. Since the next General Election was scheduled for June 2019, the remainder exceeded one year. The Court ruled that financial burden and limited tenure are not valid grounds to prevent elections; Parliament's intent is to ensure constituencies remain represented.
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