'It will lead to chaos': SC refuses to halt Punjab Panchayat elections on polling day

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the ongoing panchayat elections in Punjab, saying there will be chaos if courts stayed elections on polling day.

The polling to elect around 13,000 panchayats in Punjab began at 8 am on Tuesday.

"There will be chaos if we stay the polling that too on the polling day," a Bench led by CJI DY Channdrachud said after a petition seeking to stay the panchayat polls was mentioned for urgent hearing.

"If polling has started today, how can we intervene at this stage? Probably the high court realised the gravity of it and vacated the stay on the elections…If polling has started today, how can we intervene at this stage? Probably the high court realised the gravity of it and vacated the stay on the elections," it said.

The Bench, however, agreed to hear the petitions challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order allowing panchayat elections in the state.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on Monday paved the way for conducting panchayat polls in the state on October 15 as it dismissed around 1,000 petitions seeking cancellation of panchayat elections.

An HC Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma had vacated the stay on the poll process.