SC rejects AAP plea for early Delhi polls, says it is up to EC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday 'disposed of' an Aaam Admi Party petition seeking the immediate dissolution of the Delhi assembly and holding of early elections in the state.

The AAP had moved the apex court seeking direction for the dissolution of assembly and the holding of fresh elections after the president placed the assembly under suspended animation on the recommendation of Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.

A constitution bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices J Chelameswar, A K Sikri, R K Agrawal and Arun Mishra passed the brief order, saying the petition by AAP is disposed of, but the question of law remains open.

At the outset of the hearing that lasted for a few minutes, Chief Justice Dattu told AAP counsel Prashant Bhushan that he must be happy that his purpose has been accomplished.

The matter is for the Election Commission to decide and the EC will deal with it, the court said as Bhushan urged the bench to ask the poll panel to announce the dates of the assembly elections.

The court appreciated additional solicitor general P S Narasimha's efforts to bring the issue to a conclusion.

The apex court on 24 February had issued a notice to the central government on a plea by AAP challenging the decision of not dissolving the Delhi assembly as recommended by the outgoing AAP government of Arvind Kejriwal.

Initially, the lieutenant governor had taken the position that it was too early to hold fresh elections and wanted more time for the political situation to unfold that could have possibly resulted in the formation of the government in Delhi.

Finally, the president gave consent to Jung to explore the formation of government by inviting largest party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, to stake the claim. This created the political uproar forcing the government to dissolve the assembly and hold fresh elections.