New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of 10 former Lok Sabha members on an Election Commission application seeking permission to hold byelections for the seats which fell vacant following their expulsion in the wake of the cash-for-query scam.

Commission counsel Meenakshi Arora told a Bench consisting of Chief Justice Y. K. Sabharwal and Justice C. K. Thakker that it was mandatory to hold elections within six months of vacancies arising.

In this case, the vacancies were notified in December last and the six-month period expired in June.

March 3 ruling

On March 3, the apex court said the Commission should seek prior permission for holding elections for these vacant seats. It also ordered status quo on a notice asking the 10 former MPs to vacate government bungalows. The court said that as the matter was to be heard at length, holding of elections in the meantime would cause a financial burden and confusion.

On Monday the Bench asked the expelled MPs to respond to the application and posted the matter to the first week of August.

The court already referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench the question whether the Parliament had the powers to expel a member for reasons other than those mentioned in the Indian Constitution.

The two-member Bench indicated that the matter would be placed before the five-judge Bench after deciding the issue of elections.

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