E-Paper
HC notice to Punjab govt, state election commission on plea seeking MC elections
The plea from Prabodh Chander Bali, an Amritsar resident, stated that these elections were required to be held before the completion of the five-year tenure of the MC in January 2023, as is mandatory under Article 249-U of the Constitution of India and Section 7 of Punjab Municipal Corporations Act.
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday sought response from Punjab government on a plea demanding municipal corporation elections in the state.
The plea from Prabodh Chander Bali, an Amritsar resident, stated that these elections were required to be held before the completion of the five-year tenure of the MC in January 2023, as is mandatory under Article 249-U of the Constitution of India and Section 7 of Punjab Municipal Corporations Act.
“By not conducting these elections, the state has deprived the voters of their valuable democratic right to elect their representatives for their grassroots democratic institutions for about a year, as the state election commission has not yet notified the schedule for holding the elections,” the plea read.
Acting on the plea, the high court bench of acting chief justice Ritu Bahri and justice Nidhi Gupta has sought response from the state government and State Election Commission by January 15. A detailed order of Monday’s proceedings is awaited.
The plea further said that instead of holding the MC elections, the state government started the work of delimitation of wards, which was “totally avoidable and impermissible”.
Hence, the plea demanded that directions be issued to the state government to announce the schedule for conducting the elections. Any further delay would be in gross violation of the letter and spirit of Article 243-U of the Constitution as well as Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976.
