The Jharkhand High Court has issued an order directing the state to announce the dates for municipal elections within three weeks. Despite the completion of the term for municipal bodies, the state government faced stern criticism from the court for delaying the elections, stating that such actions violate constitutional and local breakdowns.
Even after the completion of the tenure of local urban bodies, the present councilor Roshni Khalkho and others from Ranchi Municipal Corporation filed a petition in the High Court against the government’s decision to postpone elections.
The Jharkhand High Court has now mandated the state to announce the dates for municipal elections within three weeks. The court criticized the state government for hanging the elections even after the term expiration of municipal bodies, stating that it amounts to a constitutional and local breakdown.
During the hearing of the petition, the government responded, referring to the Supreme Court’s order in the case of Vikas Kishan Gavali vs. Maharashtra Government, emphasizing that elections for local bodies should only proceed after conducting a triple test.
However, the petitioner Roshni Khalkho’s lawyer, Vinod Singh, argued that the government’s incomplete response is confusing the court. While the Supreme Court has issued a clear order in the Suresh Mahajan vs. Madhya Pradesh case that the OBC reservation should undergo a triple test before conducting local body elections, it doesn’t imply avoiding elections altogether. Not holding elections in any circumstance would violate the fundamental concept of the constitution.
The High Court, considering the arguments from both sides, ordered the government to issue the notification for elections within three weeks. With this, the petition has been disposed of by the court.
