There Will Be No Advancement Of Lok Sabha Poll Timing For Ramzan: SC Dismisses Petition

The Supreme Court on Monday (13 May) rejected the petition which had disputed the decision of Election Commission (EC) on the issue of advancing the poll timings during Ramzan in the last phase of the Lok Sabha polls on 19 May, reports ANI.

According to the report, the vacation bench of the apex court comprising of Justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna said that the petition had no merit and that the election timing would remain the same from 7am to 6pm.

"We cannot get into poll times. It is the EC's call. There may be logistical issues," observed the bench, as reported by Live Law.

Earlier, on 2 May, a three-judge bench of apex court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had directed the EC to take an appropriate decision on lawyer Nizamuddin Pasha’s plea for rescheduling the start of election from 7am to 5am.

Rejecting the prayer on 5 May, the EC in a letter to Pasha said, "The polling hours are long enough (11) hours against the statutory eight hours for the convenience of all sections of the society. The Commission does not find it feasible to alter the existing hours for the poll for the 5th, 6th and 7th phase,"

Following the EC decision, the lawyer had again moved the apex court seeking a direction to the poll panel to reconsider the plea.