PANJIM: The State government faced a double blow on Wednesday as the Supreme Court upheld the order of the High Court, directing the State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete the election process for 186 Village Panchayats by August 12, 2022.
In a separate petition filed by an individual before the High Court, the Division Bench of Justice M S Sonak and Justice R N Laddha dismissed a plea challenging non-inclusion of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for the ensuing elections. With this setback to the Goa government, elections will be held on August 10, 2022, and counting on August 12, 2022, as per the notification issued on June 30, following the High Court directions.
The crucial hearing before the SC was filed by the government seeking postponement of the Panchayat polls till September 12, 2022, given the monsoon season, the upcoming monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly followed by the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
The vacation bench comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Krishna Murari refused to interfere with the order of the High Court passed on June 28, 2022, while observing that its order was in compliance with Article 243E of the Constitution of India, which deals with the Panchayat and that decision of the Apex Court in Suresh Mahajan v/s State of Madhya Pradesh, demanded no interference.
However, the SEC is allowed to approach the High Court as and when the requirement arises for necessary direction. “These petitions stand dismissed,” it added.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing on behalf of the State sought an extension of polls by a month-and a-half as holding elections in peak monsoon might not be conducive.
“We are requesting for a month and a half. We will finish by the end of September. Everything will be over. This time what happened was that for the last six months this entire exercise of the SEC on the delimitation and the OBC database as per the judgment of the Supreme Court in the triple test was going on. The SEC kept asking for documents, which were given.
The SEC changed dates thrice. We did not object to it. Our problem arose that the last date fixed by SEC was June 18, which was the last date when Panchayat’s term was getting over. It was right in the middle of the monsoon. That is when we moved,” Kaul’s submission stated.
He further argued that since the notification for the election had already been issued, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect. Given the same, the budget session held in July would be prohibited from even disbursing financial aid towards flood relief. Moreover, as per the reports of the meteorology department, there are flash floods and landslides in the State. Kaul further argued the entire staff for conducting the election is provided by the State Government but given the flood situation in Goa, it might be difficult to conduct the election in 45 days as directed by the High Court.
The SC however did not accept the submissions and dismissed the Special Leave Application filed on Monday.
