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IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA
VALMIKI MENEZES, AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, JJ.
Pritam Harmalkar, son of Permanand Harmalkar – Petitioner
Versus
Election Commission of India, Through Secretary – Respondent
Writ Petition No. 235 of 2026 And Writ Petition 237 of 2026 AND Miscellaneous Civil Application No. 186 of 2026
Decided On : 08-04-2026
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. writ petitions challenge eci bye-election notification. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 6) |
| 2. vacancy 15.10.2025; results 04.05.2026; term ends 14.03.2027. (Para 4 , 36 , 37) |
| 3. proviso (a) bars bye-election if incoming term under one year. (Para 5 , 8 , 9) |
| 4. term reckoned from vacancy; sarode erroneous; seek larger bench. (Para 11 , 12) |
| 5. issues: sarode binding? larger bench? quash notification? (Para 13) |
| 6. sarode interprets remainder as incoming member's post-poll tenure. (Para 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18) |
| 7. sarode ratio applied in dubey; eci did not appeal. (Para 19 , 20 , 21 , 22) |
| 8. pramod fact-specific; no ratio on section 151-a(a) interpretation. (Para 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27) |
| 9. coordinate precedents binding; sarode not per incuriam. (Para 28 , 29 , 30) |
| 10. no high court conflict; reject larger bench reference. (Para 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35) |
| 11. notification quashed violating section 151-a proviso (a). (Para 38) |
| 12. no stay; bye-elections declared nullity. (Para 39 , 40) |
JUDGMENT :
Valmiki Menezes, J.
1. Registry to waive office objections and register the matters.
2. Heard Mr. Akshay Naik, learned Senior Advocate with Mr.Chaitanya Padgaonkar, learned Advocate for the Petitioner in Writ Petition No.235 of 2026, Mr. Nitin Sardessai, Senior Advocate along with Mr. Terence Sequeira, Learned Advocate for the Petitioner in Writ Petition No.237 of 2026, Mr. S. R. Rivankar, Learned Senior Advocate with Mr. Rama Rivankar, Learned Advocate for Respondents No.1 and 3, Senior Advocate Shri. Devidas Pangam, Advocate General for the State of Goa along with Mr. Deep D. Shirodkar, Learned Additional Government Advocate for Respondent No.3 and Advocate Abhijit Gosavi, for the Intervenor.
3. These two petitions impugn Notice dated 15.03.2026 and Notification dated 16.03.2026 of the Election Commission of India (Respondent No.1) declaring bye-elections to the 21- Ponda Constituency, of the Goa Legislative Assembly, to take place on 09.04.2026. Since the grounds of challenge in these Petitions are common, they have been heard and are being disposed of by a common judgement.
4. In both Petitions, the undisputed facts are the following:
The elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Goa were held on 14.02.2022 and its results were declared on 10.03.2022. Late Ravi Naik was declared as the winning candidate of 21-Ponda Constituency. Oath was administered to him and 38 other MLAs on 15.03.2022 which is the date on which the term of the Assembly commenced. The term being for five years, the term of the current Assembly ends on 14.03.2027.
Shri Ravi Naik passed away on 15.10.2025 rendering his seat vacant on that date. The end of the term of the MLA, (late Ravi Naik), whose seat fell vacant on his demise, calculated from the date of his taking oath (15.03.2022), is 14.03.2027. The Election Commission issued the impugned Notification for conducting bye-election to the 21-Ponda Constituency on 15.03.2026, which was published in the Gazette on 16.03.2026. According to the election programme, the last date for taking nominations of candidates was declared as 23.03.2026, the date for scrutiny of withdrawal of candidatures was fixed on 24.03.2026 and date by which withdrawal of candidatures was to be recorded was 26.03.2026. The date of polling has been fixed on 09.04.2026, the date of counting of votes on 04.05.2026 which is the date of declaration of the election results.
5. In these undisputed set of facts, the main ground raised in the Petition is that the impugned Notification has been issued contrary to the provisions of Clause (a) of proviso to Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RP Act) since the term of the MLA for the Constituency who would now be elected would be of less than one year, even if counted from the date of the election result.
6. These Petitions were granted circulation for 24.03.2026 and time was granted to the Election Commission till 30.03.2026 to consider filing an affidavit in reply and to consider the g
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