Not just EC, time not on Govt side

The last reference the court disposed of took almost two decades. It was a reference made in the early ’80s questioning the constitutionality of the Jammu and Kashmir Resettlement Bill.

This time, too, time constraints involved leave little scope for the Centre to fulfil its objective of having early polls.

To begin with, the reference is likely to be heard not earlier than August 26 when Chief Justice B N Kirpal, who is currently out of station, is due to sit next.

The reference under Article 143 of the Constitution will till then remain in the custody of the court’s Registrar General, R C Gandhi.

Solicitor General Harish Salve, who will appear on behalf of the Centre, is expected to mention before Kirpal’s bench on Monday that a five-judge Constitution bench be set up.

This bench then will consider whether it should give its opinion in the matter. If it chooses to do so, the bench will issue notices to whoever it thinks is a necessary party. Even otherwise, given the political sensitivity of the questions raised, several state Governments and political parties are likely to intervene.

No matter how much the court expedites the proceedings under Article 143, there is little chance of it giving its opinion quick enough for the House in Gujarat to be constituted by October 6—the deadline under Article 174 which stipulates that there should not be a gap of more than six months between two sessions of the Assembly.

Even if the court’s opinion turns out to be in favour of the Government, the prospect of an election in October seems unrealistic because the minimum stipulated gap between the date of notification and the date of poll is 25 days. Besides, the Election Commission will have to announce the schedule at least a week in advance so that the returning officers are in place in all constituencies to receive nominations.

And the EC will need another couple of days after the poll date for the counting of votes and declaration of results.