Mumbai, April 13: In what would come as a relief to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the Bombay High Court today permitted the Election Commission to conduct election to the vacant Legislative Council seat he is set to contest.
In accordance with the law, Chavan, who became chief minister on November 11, 2010, is required to be elected to either of the two houses of the state legislature within six months of assuming office.
Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt had last month resigned to facilitate Chavan’s election.
The EC had approached the high court seeking permission to notify the election, the process of which has to be completed by May 10.
In the event of EC’s failure to conduct timely election, Chavan would have had to get himself nominated to the House by the governor to enable him to continue in office.
-Agencies