Bar on judicial interference in electoral matters
Also called: Article 329 · Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Article 329 keeps courts from interrupting elections. Courts cannot question laws on delimitation (drawing constituency boundaries) or on the allotment of seats. An election can be challenged only through an election petition, filed with the authority fixed by law, after the result. This stops courts from halting an election midway, so polls finish on time.
Example
In N.P. Ponnuswami (1952), the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to a rejected nomination during the election. The candidate had to wait and file an election petition. In Meghraj Kothari (1967), the Court held that Delimitation Commission orders could not be challenged in court.
Don't confuse with
- Election petition: the remedy that Article 329 allows. It is filed in the High Court after the result. Article 329 is the bar on other kinds of court challenge.
Related concepts
- Representation of the People Act 1951
- Conduct of Election Rules 1961
- Right to contest elections
- Section 8A of the RPA 1951
- Section 9A of the RPA 1951
- Section 10A of the RPA 1951
- Section 11 of the RPA 1951
- Contesting from two constituencies
- By-election
- Election petition