Court asks central govt, census dept to file replies

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday directed the central government as well as the census department to file their replies in a case regarding the Punjab government’s failure to conduct elections to around 95 municipal councils/committees of the state despite the completion of their tenures in May last year.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday directed the central government as well as the census department to file their replies in a case regarding the Punjab government’s failure to conduct elections to around 95 municipal councils/committees of the state despite the completion of their tenures in May last year.

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When the case came up for hearing on Tuesday before the court headed by justice Paramjeet Singh, the census department failed to file its reply despite earlier directions of the court. The case has now been posted for hearing on September 12.

On the previous date of hearing (May 30), Punjab advocate general Ashok Aggarwal had informed the court that the state intended to complete the electoral process of municipal bodies within 182 days. The court was informed that the state had appointed 95 administrators to govern local bodies whose tenure of five years got over in 2013.

The court had asked for the census department’s reply as the state government had submitted that it had not been able to conduct elections to municipal councils/committees due to non-availability of population figures on the basis of the last census and consequent delimitation of wards.