The issue of holding separate bypolls to two Rajya Sabha seats, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court by the Gujarat Congress, had come up before the Delhi High Court in 2009.
It had then held that it was not mandatory to hold joint election in the case of casual vacancies.
“It is not necessary for us to express any opinion on the issue as to whether the elections to regular vacancies are required to be held together. However, there cannot be any doubt that insofar as casual vacancy is concerned, holding of joint election is not mandatory, even if more than one casual vacancy occurred at about the same time,” the High Court said in the Satya Pal Malik vs Election Commission of India case on January 20, 2009.
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The same order, which pertained to two casual vacancies from Uttar Pradesh, has been quoted by the Election Commission in its press note for bypolls to fill six casual vacancies in the Rajya Sabha from Bihar, Gujarat and Odisha. The EC’s note mentions that byelections to all Houses, including the Rajya Sabha, are considered separate vacancies. Separate notifications are issued and separate poll is taken for each of the vacancies.
In Gujarat, two Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant after BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani were elected to the Lok Sabha. On Gujarat Congress’s petition, the Supreme Court has sought a response from the Election Commission by June 24.