Plea to postpone assembly elections: Uttarakhand HC seeks ECI reply

The High Court of Uttarakhand has sought a reply from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to a public interest litigation seeking postponement of rallies as well as upcoming assembly elections in the state in view of the Omicron threat.

Nanital (Uttarakhand): The High Court of Uttarakhand has sought a reply from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking postponement of rallies as well as upcoming assembly elections in the state in view of the Omicron threat.

After hearing the PIL filed by advocate Shiv Bhatt, the Uttarakhand High Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission asking the poll body to reply on the matter.

The bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice NS Dhanik has now posted the matter for further hearing on January 3, 2022.

Advocate Shiv Bhatt attached his petition along with a previous PIL (Sachchidanand Dabral and others Vs Union of India) of similar nature under consideration before the same court.

Bhatt in his petition has stated: "Omicron the new variant of Covid-19 is 300% more transmissible; therefore, for the protection of lives of people, holding of such large rallies, shall be put on hold."

Besides, deferring the date of Uttarakhand elections; postponement of gatherings for the New Year celebrations have also been mentioned in the petition.

"In the petition, we have asked the political parties to organize virtual rallies," he added.

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