Now, notification for Rampur assembly bypoll to be issued on Nov 11: EC

The Election Commission has issued a revised schedule for the Rampur assembly bypoll and the notification for the electoral contest will be issued on Friday.

The decision of the poll panel came after the additional sessions judge refused to grant a stay on the conviction of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mohammed Azam Khan.

Polling will still be held on December 5 along with the second phase of Gujarat elections and other bypolls, including the one for Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat which fell vacant after the demise of SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The vacancy in Rampur assembly constituency of Uttar Pradesh occurred on October 27 after the disqualification of Azam Khan following his conviction in a hate speech case.

The commission had announced the schedule for Rampur by-election along with other vacancies in various states.

According to the earlier schedule, the notification for the bypolls, including that in Rampur, was to be issued on Thursday.

A writ petition in Mohammad Azam Khan Vs. Election Commission and others was filed before the Supreme Court.

The top court heard the matter on Thursday and directed the additional sessions judge, Rampur, before whom the appeal has been filed to advance the hearing of the application for stay of conviction and take it up peremptorily on Friday.

The judge was asked to dispose the matter on the same day itself.

The EC was asked by the apex court to issue notification for the Rampur seat on or after November 11, depending upon the outcome of the application for stay of conviction.

The additional sessions judge (ASJ) heard the matter and did not grant stay in the matter.

Based on the outcome of the case in the ASJ court, the EC decided to issue the notification on November 11, the poll panel said in a statement.

On October 27, the MP-MLA court in Rampur convicted Khan in the hate speech case and sent him to three years in jail.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Rampur court to hear and dispose of Khan's application on Thursday itself.