The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court made it clear today that its opinion on the powers of the Election Commission regarding the setting of election date would not come by October 6.
The Bench also said its decision would be independent of the Gujarat imbroglio. The next hearing has been set for September 17.
Few states and political parties have replied to the notices sent by the Supreme Court last week.
The five-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice B N Kirpal indicated that it would go ahead with the hearing whether they filed their statements or not.
It also issued notices to the Centre, the Gujarat government and Narendra Modi in a public interest litigation challenging his continuance as a caretaker chief minister because the Constitution does not recognise such a position.
The judges, while delinking the Gujarat case from the legal questions referred to it by the President under Article 143 of the Constitution, observed that they would proceed on the assumption that what had been stated by the Election Commission regarding Gujarat was correct.
