"There will be complete chaos": Supreme Court refuses to stay Punjab rural polls

The apex court said staying the polls, which commenced today at 8 am would cause chaos

Published on: Oct 15, 2024, 12:40:58 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Supreme Court, on Monday, refused to stay the ongoing Punjab panchayat elections after petitions were filed regarding complications faced by candidates while filing nominations.

The Supreme Court refused to stay the ongoing Punjab panchayat elections after hearing petitions regarding complications faced by candidates while filing nominations

The top court said,“Polling has opened, suppose we stay now there will be complete chaos. Staying conduct of elections is a grave thing. Tomorrow someone will want to stay in parliamentary elections like this.”

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The bench also added that they would list the case and would be open to hearing pleas challenging the order of the Punjab and Haryana high court in allowing panchayat polls in Punjab.

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Polling has been ongoing in Punjab since 8 am for 13,229 gram panchayats and is set to finish by 4 pm today. Votes will be counted today itself.

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Opposition parties in Punjab have alleged that there were several irregularities during the filing of nominations for the election. Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Congress' Partap Singh Bajwa, claimed that papers of opposition-backed candidates were “wrongfully” rejected and no-objection certificates were not provided."

Bajwa also expressed doubts about fair practice during the counting votes under the current AAP government. He pointed out that the voters' list of January 1, 2023 has been considered for the panchayat elections instead of the voters' list of January 1, 2024 as well.

On October 14, the Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed over 1,000 petitions seeking the cancellation of the panchayat elections. The court clarified that only the Election Commission of India was allowed to intervene in the electoral process.

The court also lifted a previously enforced ban on 206 panchayats where complaints had been lodged about the irregularities related to filing.

The only writ petition out of thousands which was accepted by the high court was one mandating that the elections be documented through video recordings.

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