HC stays poll process in 200 panchayats till Oct 14

Chandigarh
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday stayed election process of sarpanches/ panches in 200-odd panchayats of the state till October 14.
The elections to more than 13,000 panchayats are scheduled for October 15.
A detailed order of the proceedings is yet to be made available, but multiple lawyers confirmed the development.
“Petitions were filed challenging the rejection of nomination papers of candidates for the post of sarpanch or panch. The order would be applicable in cases which have been taken up by the high court,” a lawyer associated with the case said.
The October 15 elections were notified on September 27 and nomination process started on October 4.
Lawyer SS Swaich said in most of the cases, the procedure adopted by administrations in rejecting the candidature for the posts of sarpanch and panch has been challenged. In some cases, there are allegations of use of force, coercion etc, added another lawyer, Manish Kumar Singla.
During the hearing, lawyers had also questioned the state election commission’s notification itself submitting that the commissioner, Raj Kamal Chaudhary, who passed the notification order was not eligible to hold the post at that time. When he was appointed, he had tenure of less than two years left as an IAS officer. However, according to the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, only an officer who has more than two years of service left can be appointed to the post. Hence, the notification is illegal, it was submitted. The lawyers appearing from petitioners’ side also sought a blank order of stay for across the state.
On the other hand, the state’s law officers, including Salil Sabhlok, submitted that the court can pass the order only in respect of those who are aggrieved and have appealed before the court. The government counsels also stated that these petitioners could not have directly approached the high court and remedy for them lied before an election tribunal.
The bench of justice Sandeep Moudgil and justice Deepak Gupta, while taking note of rival submissions, passed the stay order in respect of petitions pending before court and further directed the government lawyers as well those appearing for petitioners to submit notes detailing their cases by Thursday morning and said that final order would be passed on October 14, after also considering government response.
SAD hails HC order
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday hailed the decision of Punjab and Haryana high court. “This is just the beginning, there are thousands of people whose nominations were cancelled unjustly,” he wrote on X, adding that he appeals to the aggrieved candidates to approach the high court as this is the only way out to save grassroots democracy.
“The man behind this murder of democracy @BhagwantMann does not deserve to remain CM any longer. He should step down immediately (SIC),” the SAD president further wrote.