PANJIM: Two Right To Information (RTI) activists Sudip Tamankar and Kewal Mayekar have urged the State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to take immediate steps to declare general panchayat elections even as the term of the 186 village panchayats ends of June 19 and the appointment of administrators inevitable. In a letter addressed to the Chief Secretary, Director of Panchayats and the SEC, Tamankar and Mayekar stated that the delay in declaring, releasing and publishing the election schedule to the panchayats was in contravention of the mandate under Article 243-E of the Constitution.
As per the mandate and Article 243-E, the elections to the panchayats must be held before the end of the term of office i.e five years from the appointed date of its first meeting. In the present case, the term of office of the panchayats will come to an end on June 19, 2022, but despite such proximity to the relevant date, the Commission has neither imposed the Code of Conduct nor published the election schedule thereby commencing the election process, they said.
According to them, the Supreme Court in the case of Kishan Singh Tomar v/s Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad had held that the timeline prescribed under the Constitution as regards holding of elections is mandatory and the elections cannot be postponed unless of exceptional circumstances.
The duo have demanded that the State Election Commission should take immediate steps towards fulfilment and adherence to the Constitutional mandate under Article 243-E of the Constitution and thereby declare, release and publish the election schedule for conduct of the elections to the panchayats in the State.
