PANJIM: In what is being seen as a slap on the government dragging its feet on the process of holding panchayat elections, the High Court today rapped the government and the State Election Commission (SEC) stating that “monsoons” cannot be an excuse for defying the constitutional mandate,
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Tuesday quashed State government decision to postpone the elections to 186 panchayats, while directing the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete the polls process within 45 days from now. The government has to finalize the election date within three days and issue notification, under Rule 10 of the Election Procedure Rules, 1996 appointing the date for holding of elections
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The Division Bench, comprising Justice MS Sonak and RN Laddha has directed government-appointed Administrators across 186 panchayats, not to take any policy decisions or expend Panchayat funds other than for routine matters.
The Bench came down heavily on the State government as well as SEC over their decision to postpone the polls defying the constitutional mandate under Article 243-E, which Court found to be unsustainable. While it maintained that Government had no powers to decide on the election process apart from issuing notification, the Court pointed out that considering the constitutional
position, independent application of mind by the SEC was imperative.
“Merely because there may have been some flash floods or even cyclones in the past, monsoons generally cannot afford an excuse for defying the constitutional mandate in Article 243-E,” the division bench said in its order adding “In the present case, the SEC has no problems holding the elections in monsoons”.
“There is no case to postpone the elections to September 2022,” it added further while maintaining that SEC should have agreed to June 4 date for the conduct of polls as recommended by the government.
The five-year term of elected members of 186 panchayats ended on June 18. The State government decided to postpone the polls on account of the monsoon season and to hold it in September.
The Court pointed out that SEC and not the State Government have been empowered to modulate the election schedule if the situation so demands, as per the Panchayat Raj Act.
“It is entirely up to the SEC to set the election process in motion or, in cases where a constitutional or statutory provision is not followed or infracted, to postpone the election process until such illegal action is remedied. This the SEC will do taking into account the constitutional mandate of holding elections before the term of a municipality or municipal council is over. In extraordinary cases, the SEC may conduct elections after such term is over, only for good reason,” the Court said.
Referring to the correspondence placed on record by the Director of Panchayat, Court said that SEC was making repeated efforts to persuade the State Government to issue Notification under Rule 10 of the Election Procedure Rules, 1996, without which the SEC felt “handicapped in completing the elections” consistent with the constitutional mandate in Article 243-E.
