SC directs Rajasthan SEC to notify municipal election programme within a week

At the outset, senior advocate Manish Singhvi, appearing for Rajasthan government, said that High Court had erred in directing for the elections to be held at the time when COVID-19 cases are on the rise in these cities of the state.

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Rajasthan State Election Commission (SEC) to notify the election programme within one week for municipal corporations of the state. The top court said that if the state government needs more time to conduct the election, then it is at liberty to approach the High Court for relief. The Rajasthan High Court had directed election to be held by October 31 in municipal corporations of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota cities. The state government contended that there is spurt in COVID-19 cases in these three cities where municipal elections are to be held and sometime be granted to them to hold the polls. A bench comprising Justice A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna directed that state election commission will notify the election programme within one week. "We direct the State Election Commissioner to notify the election programme in respect of subject Corporations within one week from today and only thereafter move the High Court for extension of time, if required", the bench said. It said, "We have no hesitation in observing that the High Court has been indulgent in extending the election concerning three Municipal Corporations in question. No further indulgence need be shown". The bench said that it agree with the High Court order and more particularly, because it has been brought to the notice that the State Election Commission is already in the process of conducting election for 'Panchayat Samities'. "That clearly belies the stand of the State that it will not be in a position to conduct the election in respect of three Municipal Corporations, in which elections were due in December, 2019. We say no more", it added. The top court said that it will be open to the SEC to first notify the election programme in respect of the Municipal Corporations and then move the High Court for extension of time until the conclusion of the election programme, if required. It said that if any application is filed regarding the issue, it should be considered by the High Court on its own merits. At the outset, senior advocate Manish Singhvi, appearing for Rajasthan government, said that High Court had erred in directing for the elections to be held at the time when COVID-19 cases are on the rise in these cities of the state. He said though the fatality rate is low in the state but the cases of COVID-19 are on the rise and it would be difficult to conduct the election at this time. The bench then asked counsel for state election commission about the status of polls to which he said that at present two phases of Panchayat elections are being held in the state. The bench said that then it is ground to reject Singhvi's argument on deferment of the polls and directed that state government should first notify the election programme within a week

On September 29, the Rajasthan High Court has dismissed the state government's application to extend time for holding elections for six newly created municipal corporations in the state. It had dismissed the application to defer the election from October 31 this year to March 31, 2021, for six municipal corporations of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota, and directed the government to conduct the elections by October 31. The high court had said that when Panchayat elections could be held smoothly, then there should be no escape in holding elections of municipal corporations. Earlier, the municipal elections were postponed citing COVID-19 pandemic as a reason. Elections in three municipal corporations of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota cities were due in December 2019, but the government had created six corporations out of three bodies and the elections were postponed for delimitation of wards and later postponed due to the coronavirus situation.