By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Nainital, 23 Jun: The Uttarakhand High Court has imposed an interim stay on the upcoming two-phase three-tier panchayat elections in the state, citing procedural lapses in the implementation of the reservation policy. The decision comes just two days after the State Election Commission issued the election notification on 21 June.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Alok Mehra passed the order while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the rotation of reserved seats. The Court observed that the reservation roster had not been finalised in accordance with established legal norms, prompting the suspension of the entire electoral process. The state government has been directed to submit its response.
It may be recalled that, during the previous hearing on 20 June, the Court had asked the government to clarify its stance on the matter. However, the state government had allegedly failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. The petitioners stressed that despite the ongoing judicial scrutiny, the government proceeded to announce the election schedule, which led to the Court’s intervention.
The petition, filed by Ganesh Dutt Kandpal of Bageshwar, contested the state’s decision to introduce a new reservation policy via an order dated 9 June earlier this month. This was followed by another order on 11 June that annulled the earlier rotation system and implemented a fresh one. Petitioners argued that this change resulted in certain seats being reserved in the same categories for four consecutive terms, effectively denying general category candidates a fair chance to contest.
The petitioners further contended that the new policy violated previous High Court directives and lacked transparency. While the state’s counsel pointed out that similar petitions were pending before a single bench, the petitioners’ advocate clarified that their challenge to the 9 June rules was specifically before the division bench, whereas the single bench was only dealing with the 11 June order.
It may be reminded here that, according to the 21 June notification, elections were scheduled across 12 districts, excluding Haridwar. The nomination process was to begin on 25 June and conclude on 28 June, with scrutiny from 29 June to 1 July. The last date for withdrawal was 2 July, and symbols were to be allotted on 3 July. Polling was planned in two phases, on 10 and 15 July, with counting on 19 July.
State Election Commissioner Sushil Kumar had earlier stated that the reservation process had been completed and submitted by the government. However, the High Court’s stay has now rendered the entire schedule void until further notice.
One of the petitioners claimed that since the same reservation formula had been adopted by the State Election Commission, he was denied an opportunity to contest from a seat of his choice.
Following the High Court’s intervention on Monday, the schedule for the elections to pick 74,499 Gram Pradhans, 55,600 Gram Panchayat members, 2,974 Kshetra Panchayat members and 358 Zila Panchayat members will have to be reworked now.
As per the now-stayed plans of the State Election Commission, District Election Officers were supposed to issue a detailed notification on Monday, paving the way for the filing of nomination papers from June 25 to June 28.
The candidates were supposed to be allotted election symbols on July 3 for balloting on July 10.
