Punjab HC halts civic polls, seeks govt response before notifications

Chandigarh (The Uttam Hindu) : The Punjab government has suffered a major setback from the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the urban body elections in Punjab. The High Court has stayed the issuance of notifications for elections to the state's nine municipal corporations and more than 100 municipalities. The court clarified that the election process cannot proceed until the state government files its response to the petitions challenging the ward demarcation.

During the hearing, the court learned that notices had already been issued on several petitions challenging the ward demarcation process, yet the government had yet to submit a response. The High Court took a firm stance, making serious comments about the government's attitude, calling it tantamount to disregarding the judicial process. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for February 18th.

The court's clear comment:

The High Court said that without the government filing its reply, notification for elections to municipal corporations and municipal committees cannot be issued.

Allegations of arbitrariness in ward demarcation:

The petitioners argued in court that widespread arbitrariness was involved in the new ward demarcation. They alleged that the delimitation process exhibited political bias and ignored population balance standards. Dozens of petitions have been filed in the High Court based on these allegations.

The municipal corporations whose ward demarcations have been directly challenged include Batala, Pathankot, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Mohali, Bathinda, Abohar, Moga, and Barnala. The court order has put on hold the notification for elections to all these municipal corporations, as well as to more than 100 municipal committees across the state.

The High Court's interim order has jeopardized the Punjab government's deadline for holding urban body elections. Administrative preparations were reportedly nearing completion, but now the election process will be unable to proceed without court permission.

The court clarified that the next hearing on February 18th will determine whether the government will be granted any relief or whether the interim stay will be extended. Currently, urban body elections across the state are stalled due to the judicial stay, which is being viewed in political circles as a major constitutional setback for the government.