ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Thursday directed the state election commission (SEC) to ensure that panchayat elections in the state are conducted by April 30, 2021.
A division bench comprising justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal passed the order on a petition filed by one Vinod Upadhyay of Hathras.
In the petition, the petitioner had sought for directions to the state election commission to issue notifications for holding the election in accordance with the provisions of Article 243-E of the Constitution of India and for a direction to the state government not to interfere in peaceful functioning of zila panchayat till then.
Earlier, on February 3, 2021, the counsel for the commission had placed before the court schedule of the election.
The court after going through the schedule observed, “As per the mandate of the Constitution, the election of the panchayat should have been conducted on or before January 13, 2021. The schedule of the election given by the Election Commission shows its completion in May 2021. Prima facie, we cannot accept the schedule given by the Election Commission otherwise pursuant to the mandate of the Constitution, elections should have taken place before January 13, 2021.”
On Thursday, the high court resumed hearing in the case and later directed the state election commission to ensure that Panchayat elections in the state are conducted by April 30, 2021.