Telangana High Court asks State government, Election Commission to hold panchayat polls by September 30

The Telangana High Court has directed the State Election Commission to conduct gram panchayat elections within three months and asked the government to assist, criticising both for delaying polls despite the expiry of the panchayats’ term in January 2024.

Hyderabad: Justice T Madhavi Devi of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete the gram panchayat elections across Telangana by September 30, expressing concern over the inordinate delay in the poll process despite the expiry of the term of the elected bodies in January.

The court pronounced the orders while disposing of a batch of writ petitions filed by former sarpanches and public-spirited individuals, who challenged the State government’s inaction in holding the polls.

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The petitioners pointed out that the five-year tenure of the panchayat bodies had ended on January 31, 2024, and argued that the appointment of special officers in their place was unconstitutional. They contended that the delay violated Articles 243E and 243K of the Constitution and the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, both of which mandate that elections to local bodies must be held before the expiry of their term or, in exceptional cases, within six months.

Appearing for the State government, Additional Advocate General Imran Khan submitted that the delay was due to the pending reservation process for Backward Classes.

Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Vikas Kishanrao Gawali vs State of Maharashtra, he argued that the government had to complete the “triple test”, including the appointment of a commission to determine political backwardness and submission of data before finalising reservations.

The court was informed that a one-man commission had submitted its report and that the reservation process would be concluded within 20 days.

The State Election Commission, through senior counsel G Vidyasagar, informed the court that the preliminary steps for elections, such as the preparation of electoral rolls, had been initiated. However, as per Section 197(6) of the Panchayat Raj Act, formal concurrence from the State government was required before issuing the election notification. Once concurrence was received, the SEC stated that it would require 60 days to complete the election process.

Taking note of the submissions, the court observed that the delay of over 14 months was unjustifiable and in violation of the constitutional requirement to ensure democratic governance at the grassroots level. Justice Madhavi Devi directed the State government to complete the reservation process and issue its concurrence to the SEC within 30 days. The SEC was then directed to notify the election schedule and conclude the process, including the declaration of results, within the next 60 days.

The court made it clear that the entire exercise must be completed on or before September 30. With these directions, the court disposed of the writ petitions.