Big relief for Himachal govt as Supreme Court extends local body election date
The Supreme Court has extended the deadline for holding local body elections in Himachal Pradesh to May 31, granting relief to the state government while directing that the poll process be completed before the monsoon.
In a significant relief to the Himachal Pradesh government, the Supreme Court of India on Friday extended the deadline fixed by the high court for holding local body elections in the state from April 30 to May 31. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the plea filed by the principal secretary and also extended the high court’s deadline of February 28 to March 31 for completing reconstruction work, delimitation and reservation.
Supreme Court modifies High Court order
The apex court took note of the logistical difficulties faced by the government and the state poll panel in carrying out delimitation and reconstruction activities in the rain-ravaged hill state, while modifying the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
While extending the timelines by a month, the bench said the high court was right in holding that the pendency of delimitation work cannot be a ground to “delay and stall” elections to rural and urban local bodies.
The bench observed that, keeping in mind the monsoon and the usual difficulties faced by the state during that period, the entire poll process must be concluded before May 31. The Chief Justice also made it clear that no fresh application seeking further extension of time would be entertained.
High Court had rejected state’s plea
On January 9, the Himachal Pradesh High Court rejected the plea of the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government seeking to defer elections to panchayati raj bodies by six months and directed it to conduct the polls before April 30.
While disposing of a PIL challenging the postponement of polls, the high court had directed the state government and the State Election Commission to complete the entire election process by April 30.
Government cited disaster, logistical challenges
Maintaining that the state had suffered extensive damage to public and private properties and roads, the government had urged the poll panel to keep the election process on hold until the situation improved.
The government also informed the court that the Disaster Act is in force in the state. However, after hearing arguments for three consecutive days, the high court directed that the elections be held before April 30.
The state government had pleaded that at least six months were required to conduct the elections due to the recent disaster and logistical challenges, but the court did not accept the argument.
Tenure of local bodies already ended
The five-year term of panchayati raj institutions ended on January 31, while the tenure of 50 urban local bodies ended on January 18.
The state has 3,577 gram panchayats, 90 panchayat samitis, 11 zila parishads and 71 urban local bodies.
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