SC refuses to entertain PIL to postpone Bihar polls, says COVID-19 cannot be ground

Stating that COVID-19 cannot be a ground for postponing the Bihar elections, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking to defer the assembly polls till the state is free of the novel coronavirus

The Election Commission of India will consider everything, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said. The bench, also comprising Justices R S Reddy and M R Shah, said it is a premature petition as no notification for the assembly polls has been issued till now

The petitioner, Avinash Thakur, had sought a direction to the Chief Election Commissioner to postpone the polls due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the ground that the Representation of the People Act provides for the deferment of polls in extraordinary situations.