The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will consider on November 6 the petitions against the Allahabad High Court order on the disqualification of Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan and holding bypoll in Suar Assembly segment in Uttar Pradesh.
A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian scheduled the matter for hearing next week.
Khan, son of Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, was disqualified as an MLA after the High Court ordered his election void on December 16, 2019, as there was irregularity in the declaration of his date of birth. Khan had earlier also moved the apex court and the petition is still pending.
Last week, the High Court had directed the Election Commission to begin the process to conduct bypoll in the constituency in the absence of any interim order by the Supreme Court on Khan’s petition.
Khan has argued that the High Court has acted in haste in the backdrop that his petition against the disqualification order is yet to be decided by the top court, and also the direction to the poll body to conduct the bypoll is not correct.
The High Court, in the order, had said that the will of the people is supreme in a democracy and it cannot be lightly interfered with, and the Election Commission, under no circumstances, can frustrate the will of the people.
The High Court had noted that seat had remained vacant since December 2019, and also took a serious view of Election Commission failure to hold the bypoll.
Now, the Election Commission and Khan have moved the apex court to challenge this High Court order.
