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Jaipur, Nov 14 (IANS) The Rajasthan High Court will on Friday deliver its important verdict on the delay in holding elections despite the expiry of the term for about 6,759 panchayats and 55 municipalities across the state.
A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice SP Sharma will deliver the verdict on several petitions, including a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Giriraj Singh Devanda, former MLA Sanyam Lodha and others.
The court completed the hearing on August 12 and reserved its decision. The decision is certain to come on Friday after about three months.
The petitions alleged that the state government illegally postponed the panchayat and municipal elections in violation of constitutional provisions and sought immediate directions to conduct the elections.
Along with this, the court will also give its verdict on about 450 petitions related to the reorganization and delimitation of Panchayats.
Advocate Premchand Devanda, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the state government issued a notification on January 16, 2025, postponing the panchayat elections in violation of Articles 243E, 243K of the Constitution and Section 17 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994.
He said that by delaying elections in 6,759 panchayats, the Rajasthan government has destabilized the grassroots level of democracy.
As per constitutional provisions, elections must be held before the expiry of the five-year term of the Panchayat. Once the tenure ends, sarpanches lose their legal authority and become private individuals – hence, appointing them as administrators is against the law.
Senior advocate Puneet Singhvi, arguing on behalf of former MLA Lodha, said the government failed to conduct elections in 55 municipalities, whose tenure ends in November 2024, instead appointing administrators without legal authority.
The government has violated the Constitution and the Rajasthan Municipal Act, 2009, he said, adding that the Supreme Court has clearly ruled that local body elections cannot be postponed except in exceptional circumstances such as natural disasters.
In its affidavit, the BJP government has presented three main arguments which are testing ‘one state, one election’.
The government informed the court that it plans to introduce the concept of ‘one state, one election’ to save public money, manpower and time and ensure better functioning of urban and rural local bodies. A high level committee is being formed for this.
The next argument was over delimitation and district reorganization. Following the creation and subsequent abolition of several districts by the previous government, the state is currently involved in reorganizing panchayats, redefining district boundaries and delimiting municipal bodies.
The government said that the elections have been postponed due to ongoing restructuring work.
The government argued that under Section 95 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, it has the right to appoint administrators to the panchayats if the elections are postponed.
The Act does not specify who can or cannot be appointed, giving the government discretion to select administrators.
–IANS
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