HC asks Uttarakhand govt, SEC to conduct panchayat polls by Nov end

The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday directed the state election commission and the government to conduct panchayat polls by November 30.

A division bench of the high court, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Alok Verma, said panchayat elections in the state should be held within 120 days.

The bench directed the appointed administrators of the panchayats to continue in office only till November 30, 2019, after which their powers will be seized.

Panchayat elections in Uttarakhand were due in July this year.

The high court's order came on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying panchayat elections in the state are not being held on time and the affairs of panchayat bodies are being run by the administrators.

The PIL filed by a Gularbhoj resident, Nayeem, said the state chief secretary, on behalf of the state government, had filed an affidavit in the court in 2010 saying the panchayat elections will be held on time and the panchayat administrators will not be appointed.

However, the chief secretary ignored the affidavit and panchayat administrators were appointed, it said.