The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Bombay High Court order to the Election Commission of India to hold a bye-election for the Pune Lok Sabha seat that has been vacant since March 2023 following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament Girish Bapat.A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, while hearing the case, asked the Senior Advocate Sukumar Patjoshi, counsel for the Election Commission, as to why the poll panel waited for so long and did not issue the notification for holding the election on its own.At this, Patjoshi, who is also the Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), told the bench that the election petition was pending, which led the bench to observe, "The election petition is different as in this case the person has died. We have to hear this matter at length. The moment a vacancy arises, the Election Commission should issue a notification."The bench, while issuing a notice, said that the matter required a detailed hearing and slated it for the end of March. The court was hearing a Special Leave Petition filed by the Election Commission assailing the Bombay High Court's order passed on December 13, 2023.The High Court in its judgment had stated that the Lok Sabha Secretary's notification had confirmed the vacancy from March 29, 2023, while the current Lok Sabha’s term will end on June 16, 2024.Constituencies cannot remain unrepresented beyond a defined period, stating that in a parliamentary democracy, governance relies on elected representatives who are the voice of the people," the High Court order stated.The report was in a snakebite death case. The victim's father had filed a petition seeking the court's intervention after his plea for compensation was rejected by the tehsildar.
While issuing the direction, the single judge bench of Justice S. K. Panigrahi said, "In many cases, the casual approach of most of the doctors while writing the postmortem report is affecting the comprehension of medico-legal documents. The judicial system finds it very difficult to read those letters and come to a definite conclusion. In such view of the matter, the chief secretary of the state is instructed to issue a circular to all the medical centres, private clinics and medical colleges and hospitals, directing them to write in proper handwriting or in a typed form when they are prescribing medicine or writing some medico-legal reports."After the doctor appeared in court, HC disposed of the petition with a direction to the petitioner to file a fresh representation before the tehsildar within one month. The judge asked the authorities to consider and dispose of the representation in accordance with law.
TAGS: Snakebite death Compensation plea Tehsildar Single judge bench
