Former Congress MLA Bhaga Barad pins hope on Supreme Court for relief

In what could be the last hope for former Congress MLA Bhaga Barad who is fighting a bitter battle against his disqualification and the subsequent announcement of bypoll for his Talala constituency, the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to take up his plea for an urgent hearing on Monday. Barad lost his case before the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday and has moved the apex court against the high court verdict.Notably, Barad had earlier moved the high court challenging his disqualification by assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi on March 5 after he was convicted and sentenced to two-year-and-nine-month in jail in a mineral theft case by a magisterial court in Sutrapada. The former MLA also challenged the "hasty decision" of the Election Commission (EC) to declare a bypoll for his constituency on March 10, completely ignoring the fact that a stay in his favour against the magisterial court's judgment was already granted by the Veraval sessions court on March 7.The high court's division bench of Justice SR Brahmbhatt and Justice Justice VB Mayani had rejected his plea on the ground that the stay granted to him was set-aside by a single judge bench of the high court after the state government challenged the sessions court's order. The division bench remarked that in the absence of a stay, the conviction and sentence subsists and therefore, his petition cannot be entertained. The court also clarified that the court has also not examined any other arguments or issues canvassed by the contending parties—state government, election commission, and Barad.Interestingly, Barad is running against time as the filing of nominations for the bypoll has already started on Thursday, with the last date being April 4. Voting is scheduled to be held on April 23.