Telangana High Court on Friday instructed Chief Secretary to appear before it to explain why election to Bhadrachalam gram panchayat in Bhadradri Kothagudem district was not being held for nearly four years.
A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili passed this direction in a PIL petition seeking a direction to conduct election to Bhadrachalam gram panchayat.
The plea was filed by a tribal activist and Gondwana Samkshema Parishad Convenor Sonde Veeraiah nearly three years ago.
‘People deprived’
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel Vasudha Nagaraj told the bench that government was depriving self-governance rights of the people of Bhadrachalam gram panchayat by not organising elections there.
Representations were given to the officials concerned but they did not respond, she stated.
Counsel also brought to the notice of the High Court that the State government had not filed the counter affidavit till date while the plea was filed in 2020.
She explained that election was held in Bhadrachalam village panchayat in 2013 after a gap of 30 years. As the panchayat term ended in 2018, the State government appointed Bhadrachalam Sub-Collector as the administrator of ‘Bhadrachalam proposed municipality’. The government proposed to make Bhadrachalam village panchayat as municipality. Since village area comes under scheduled area, the State government cannot amend status of the village. Parliament had to take a call on the matter, counsel contended.
The State Election Commission, in its affidavit, stated that it was empowered to conduct elections to all panchayats included in schedule VII of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act.
However, Bhadrachalam panchayat did not come under that Act and hence poll could not be conducted to that panchayat, the Commission counsel said.
