HC upholds state law on engaging bankers in panchayat elections

Patna: Patna high court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of the state law that allows public sector bank (PSB) employees to be engaged in elections for panchayati raj institutions in Bihar.
A division bench comprising acting chief justice Ashutosh Kumar and justice Partha Sarathy dismissed a batch of writ petitions filed by the State Bank of India Officers' Association and others, ruling that Section 125 of the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006 — which empowers the state govt to deploy PSB employees for election-related duties, including polling, vote counting, law and order maintenance and patrolling — is constitutionally valid.
The petitioners had challenged the state govt's legislative competence in enacting Section 125, arguing that election-related laws fall exclusively within the legislative powers of the central govt.
However, the division bench rejected this argument, calling the plea "myopic and baseless". It ruled that the Constitution of India explicitly grants legislative powers to state govts under Article 243-K to make laws and rules for panchayati raj elections.