The Supreme Court has refused to lift the stay on Katol Assembly by-polls, the seat which went vacant after the resignation of former MLA Ashish Deshmukh last year. After the apex court verdict, Election Commission of India and Sarpanch of Bhishnur village in Narkhed tehsil, Dinesh Tule withdrew their petitions filed before the court.
The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court had stayed by-poll in Katol Assembly constituency, which was scheduled to be held on April 11 along with Lok Sabha voting. The seat fell vacant after the then sitting MLA Ashish Deshmukh resigned from BJP and State Assembly in October 2018.
A PIL filed before the High Court by the Chairperson of Katol panchayat samiti, Sandip Sarote had sought cancellation of the by-election process contending that whoever gets elected will have a short term of 3 months only before the next State Assembly elections are announced.
The PIL further said that the winner will get only June, July, and August to carry on duties as a MLA since the regular elections are due in October for which Code of Conduct may come into force any time in September.
