The Congress MLA from Faridabad-NIT in Haryana, Neeraj Sharma, on Friday said he has written to chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar to withhold the byelection for Karnal assembly seat in light of the order of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court (HC) setting aside the Akola West assembly bypoll.

The Bombay HC had quashed the Election Commission’s (EC) notification of March 16 to hold the Akola West assembly bypoll on the grounds that the remaining term of the incoming member would be less than a year. The same holds true for Karnal assembly bypoll too. The MLA said the new MLA would barely get a couple of month to represent the Karnal assembly seat as the term of Haryana Vidhan Sabha ends on November 3. In his letter to the CEC, Sharma said the bypoll would put a financial burden on the public exchequer.

Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act,1951, the law enacted by the Parliament for the conduct of elections to the two houses of Parliament and state legislatures, however, bars a byelection from being held if the remaining term of the member is less than one year. On March 16, HT pointed out that the EC’s move was not in consonance with Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act.

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC, comprising justice Anil S Kilor and justice MS Jawalkar, in its March 26 judgment said since a period of less than a year is left as a balance term for an incoming MLA, they have no hesitation in holding that the EC’s notification to hold the byelection was contrary to Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act.