Now Reading: Supreme Court rejects Bhupesh Baghel plea, election trial to proceed
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Supreme Court rejects Bhupesh Baghel plea, election trial to proceed
The Story in Brief
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, dismissed former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's fresh plea against a High Court order that refused to frame a preliminary issue on the maintainability of an election petition filed by BJP leader Vijay Baghel. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana said the plea was an attempt to delay the trial. 'Election cases should have time-bound disposal,' Justice Bagchi observed. The court declined Baghel's offer to give an undertaking that no further applications would be moved.
Vijay Baghel's election petition, filed after the 2023 Chhattisgarh assembly polls, alleges Bhupesh Baghel violated the 48-hour silence period under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act by holding a rally on 16 November 2023. Baghel had challenged the petition on limitation grounds, arguing that the affidavit supporting it was dated 22 January 2024, five days after the 45-day limitation period from the 3 December 2023 result expired. The High Court will now proceed with the trial on the merits of the petition.
Indian Opinion Analysis
All three outlets report the same bench comments and Sibal's arguments, producing uniform straight reporting. Barandbench.com led with the strongest judicial rebuke, quoting Justice Bagchi calling the plea 'another aspect of delaying the trial,' while Deccan Chronicle and Verdictum led with the procedural dismissal. The coverage is consistent: every source quotes the same pushback from the bench and Sibal's offer to give an undertaking against further applications. The single significant difference is ordering of paragraphs. Readers get a complete picture from any one version. The Chhattisgarh High Court will now proceed with the trial of Vijay Baghel's election petition.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): barandbench.com (neutral report), Syndicated copy (carried by deccanchronicle.com, verdictum.in)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
