The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by former political strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, which was seeking to cancel the 2025 Bihar assembly elections due to alleged breaches of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) ahead of the polls.
The plea argued that the election, in which Jan Suraaj made its electoral debut and failed to win any of the 238 seats it contested, should be declared null and void. The party alleged violations of the MCC by the Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.
What CJI Surya Kant said on Prashant Kishor’s plea
Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition specifically challenged the transfer of ₹10,000 to women voters in Bihar while the Model Code of Conduct was in force.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, pulled up the party for attempting to use the court to gain attention after losing the elections. It asked the petitioner to move the Patna high court since the issue related only to one state.
"How many votes did you get? Once people reject you, you use the judicial forum to get relief! Somebody should have challenged the scheme itself then. That is not the prayer before us. You just want an omnibus direction for declaration of election of the entire state as null and void," the Chief Justice was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}"How many votes did you get? Once people reject you, you use the judicial forum to get relief! Somebody should have challenged the scheme itself then. That is not the prayer before us. You just want an omnibus direction for declaration of election of the entire state as null and void," the Chief Justice was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
{{/usCountry}}The bench observed that the plea was effectively a combined election petition covering the entire state.
"Since it deals with only one State, please go to that high court. In some cases, there is a serious issue of freebies which we will seriously examine," the bench said.
What did the party say in its plea?
Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for Jan Suraaj, said the scheme under which payments were made to voters was announced shortly before the elections. He added that the money was disbursed while the Model Code of Conduct was in place.
"But when a State has a grave fiscal deficit and it is a dole in the sense that 10,000 will be paid immediately and over 35 lakh people enrolled in this scheme just after the MCC was announced," the senior lawyer said.
"Direct transfer schemes are different. This is about women self help groups," the bench said.
The Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) had approached the Supreme Court seeking fresh elections in Bihar after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance retained power in the 243-member Assembly by winning 202 seats. The INDIA bloc secured 35 seats. The JSP did not win any seat, and most of its candidates lost their security deposits.
The petition alleged that the state government violated the Model Code of Conduct by transferring ₹10,000 to women beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana after the election schedule was announced.
With inputs from agencies