SC extends deadline by a month; asks HP govt, SEC to hold local bodies polls by May 31

On January 9, the Himachal Pradesh High Court rejected the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu governments plea seeking to defer elections to panchayati raj bodies by six months, and directed it to conduct the polls before April 30.

In a significant relief to the Himachal Pradesh government, the Supreme Court on Friday extended from April 30 to May 31 the deadline fixed by the high court for holding polls for local bodies in the state. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the plea filed by the principal secretary and also extended the high court's deadline of February 28 to March 31 for completing reconstruction work, delimitation and reservation. The top court also took note of the logistical difficulties, being faced by the government and the state poll panel in delimitation and other reconstruction activities in the rain-ravaged hill state, while modifying the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The apex court, while extending the timelines by a month, however, said the high court was right in holding that the pendency of delimitation work cannot be a ground to ''delay and stall'' the polls for rural and urban local bodies. The bench said that keeping in mind the monsoon and consequential difficulties usually being faced by the state, the poll process must be concluded before May 31. The CJI made clear that no fresh application for extension of time will be entertained. On January 9, the Himachal Pradesh High Court rejected the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government's plea seeking to defer elections to panchayati raj bodies by six months, and directed it to conduct the polls before April 30. The high court, while disposing of the PIL challenging the postponement of polls, had directed the Himachal Pradesh government and the state Election Commission to complete the entire election process by April 30. Maintaining that the state has suffered extensive damage to public and private properties and roads, the state government had urged the poll panel to put the poll process on hold till the situation improved on the ground. The government also said that the Disaster Act is in force in the state. However, the high court, after hearing the arguments for three consecutive days, directed the government to hold the elections before April 30. The state government had pleaded in the high court that due to the recent disaster and logistical challenges, at least six months were needed to hold the elections, but the court did not accept the argument. The five-year term of panchayati raj institutions ended on January 31, while the tenure of 50 urban local bodies ended on January 18. The state has 3,577 gram panchayats, 90 panchayat samitis, 11 zila parishads and 71 urban local bodies.

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