High Court Halts Assam Panchayat Poll Notification

The Gauhati High Court has ordered the Assam State Election Commission to refrain from releasing notifications for panchayat elections without judicial consent. The court's directive follows multiple petitions challenging state-wide panchayat delimitation. The hearing is scheduled for January 9, thereby delaying elections beyond the state's original February 10 deadline.

The Gauhati High Court has intervened in the Assam panchayat election process, directing the State Election Commission not to issue any notifications for the polls without the court's express permission. This decision stems from a series of writ petitions challenging the delimitation process for panchayats across Assam.

The Assam government had earlier committed to completing elections using the newly-delimitated constituencies by February 10 next year. However, with the High Court set to reconvene for further hearings on January 9, this timeline faces a significant delay.

The legal representatives for both the state government and the Election Commission presented their cases, with the court emphasizing the need for an urgent hearing due to the procedural implications. An advocate for one of the petitioners highlighted the impossibility of meeting the February 10 deadline, given the mandatory 45-day period between poll notification and the actual election.

(With inputs from agencies.)