The Election Commission of India (EC) on Friday moved a Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka questioning the direction of a single judge not to announce the result of the elections held to the Legislative Council from the Bangalore Urban Local Authorities (BULA) constituency without its prior permission.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum, before whom the EC moved the appeal, has agreed to hear the appeal on December 13 as the counting of votes is scheduled for December 14.
The single judge on Thursday had passed the interim order directing the EC to keep a separate ballot box for nominated members of three town municipal councils of Bommasandra, Attibele, and Anekal coming under BULA constituency.
The interim order was passed pending consideration of the legal issue about whether the nominated members have the right to vote in the elections to the Legislative Council when they have no right to vote in the meetings of the municipal council.
The EC contended that the interim order passed by the single judge amounts to interference with the election process contrary to the law laid down by the apex court that no court can interfere after commencement of the election process. It was contended in EC’s appeal that the law gives voting rights to every member of the local authorities, municipalities, etc. to cast their votes on the elections to the Legislative Council unlike in elections to the post of President of India and to the Rajya Sabha in which the law specifically gives voting right only to the “elected members”.
