Now Reading: Supreme Court refuses to halt Baghel election petition challenge
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Supreme Court refuses to halt Baghel election petition challenge
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to interfere with Bhupesh Baghel's challenge to an election petition filed by BJP leader Vijay Baghel against his 2023 Patan assembly constituency win. The bench of…
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to interfere with Bhupesh Baghel's challenge to an election petition filed by BJP leader Vijay Baghel against his 2023 Patan assembly constituency win. The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said it saw no ground to interfere at this stage and indicated that the Chhattisgarh High Court could examine the limitation issue on the evidence.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha argued that the petition was barred by the 45-day limit under the Representation of the People Act, pointing out that Vijay Baghel's affidavit bears the date January 22, 2024 while the deadline expired on January 17, 2024. The bench asked why the plea was not raised earlier. Vijay Baghel has alleged violation of the 48-hour silence period before polling. The election petition remains pending before the Chhattisgarh High Court where evidence is to be recorded.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both ET and India Today report the same hearing identically: the Supreme Court refused to interfere, saying the limitation objection must be tested on evidence before the Chhattisgarh High Court. Kapil Sibal's admission that he raised the plea late is included verbatim in both accounts. No source omits or spins the bench's query. The uniform straight reporting leaves the real suspense elsewhere: the election petition has survived multiple rounds since 2024, and the High Court will now take evidence. What is at stake is whether Bhupesh Baghel's 2023 Patan win stands or falls on the date of one affidavit.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report), indiatoday.in (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.
