High Court issues notice to Punjab govt on delay in holding municipal corporation polls

Amritsar, January 8

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to the state government regarding delay in holding municipal corporation (MC) elections. The notice has been issued following a PIL filed by a local activist in the court. A Bench of the High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta, while issuing notices to the state government and the State Election Commission, directed the state counsel to inform the court on the next date of hearing about the schedule to hold elections to the MCs, which were overdue since January, 2023.

The counsel for petitioners, Parbodh Chander Bali, submitted that these elections were required to be held before the completion of the tenure of municipal corporations in January 2023, as it was mandatory under Article 249-U of the Constitution of India and under Section 7 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. By not conducting elections, the state had deprived voters of their valuable democratic right to elect their representatives for grassroot democratic institutions for around one year. The State Election Commission had not yet notified the schedule for holding elections. The next hearing in the case would be held on January 15 (Monday).

Counsel Bali claimed that the state government had to submit the election schedule in the court within a week.