A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declared the proceedings abated after being informed of Bhatikar’s death on Thursday night (May 14, 2026). File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
A day after Goa Congress leader Ketan Bhatikar died following a snakebite, the Supreme Court on Friday (May 15, 2026) closed his plea challenging a Bombay High Court order cancelling the Ponda Assembly bypoll.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declared the proceedings abated after being informed of Bhatikar’s death on Thursday night (May 14, 2026).
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Appearing for the deceased leader, advocate Abhishek Jebraj requested the Court to leave the larger question of law open while closing the proceedings. The Bench recorded the submissions of both sides and disposed of the plea. Bhatikar (38), the Congress candidate for the Ponda Assembly seat, had challenged the High Court’s April 8 order quashing the bypoll.
According to the police, Bhatikar was bitten by a snake after he got down at Karmal Ghat on the Goa-Karnataka border. He was taken to a Primary Health Centre in Dharbandora, Goa, where doctors declared him brought dead.
The bypoll had been necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MLA Ravi Naik on October 15 last year and was scheduled to be held on April 9.
The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court had set aside the Election Commission of India’s notification for the bypoll, citing violation of the Representation of the People Act, as less than one year remained in the term of the Assembly.
The petition before the High Court was filed by two registered voters, who argued that the bypoll was invalid since the Assembly’s term was set to expire on March 14, 2027. The court agreed, noting that the winning candidate would have served only about nine months.
Published – May 16, 2026 02:22 am IST
