Gujarat election reference
Also called: Special Reference No. 1 of 2002 · Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 3 "Election and Representation"
Meaning
This was Special Reference No. 1 of 2002, a question the President sent to the Supreme Court for its opinion. It came after the Gujarat assembly was dissolved in 2002. The question was whether Article 174 forced an election within six months. Article 174 says no more than six months may pass between two sittings of an assembly. The Court said this rule applies to assembly sessions, not to elections after dissolution. The opinion protected the Election Commission's power to choose a safe time for polls.
Example
After the 2002 violence in Gujarat, the Election Commission decided it was not yet safe to hold the assembly election. The Supreme Court's opinion upheld the ECI's decision to delay the poll.
Don't confuse with
- By-election rule (s.151A RPA 1951): requires a vacancy in a single seat to be filled within six months. The Gujarat reference was about Article 174 and the dissolution of a whole assembly.
Related concepts
- Mohinder Singh Gill case
- Chief Electoral Officer
- District Election Officer
- Returning Officer
- Presiding Officer
- Election observers