Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday expressed sharp displeasure over the state government’s delay in conducting elections to municipal corporations and other urban local bodies.
The court directed the government to submit its recommendations to the State Election Commission (SEC) for holding local body polls within three weeks.
The order was issued during the hearing of a contempt petition before a bench headed by Justice Ananda Sen.
Senior officials — Chief Secretary Avinash Kumar, Home Secretary Vandana Dadel, Urban Development Principal Secretary Sunil Kumar, and Additional Secretary Gyanendra Kumar — appeared in person during the proceedings.
Appearing for the government, Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan explained that the delay stemmed from the process of determining the reservation percentage for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in urban bodies, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s “triple test” requirement.
He informed the court that the survey for the triple test had been completed and its report would soon be presented to the Cabinet. Once approved, the government would send its recommendations to the SEC to initiate the poll process.
However, the court stated that the triple test process cannot be used indefinitely as a reason to postpone elections and stressed the urgency of taking immediate steps.
Advocate Sumit Gadodia, representing the SEC, sought three months to conduct the polls, but the court rejected the request, directing the Commission to specify at the next hearing how soon it can conduct elections once the government’s recommendations are received.
The court also ordered the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and Urban Development Secretary to remain personally present at the next hearing on November 10.
Earlier, on January 4, 2024, the same bench had instructed the government to ensure that elections to all municipal bodies be held within three weeks, while hearing a petition filed by Roshni Khalkho, an outgoing councillor of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
Since that order remains unimplemented, Khalkho filed a contempt petition, which is now under consideration.
Jharkhand currently has 48 urban local bodies, including 12 where elections have been pending since June 2020. The remaining bodies completed their terms in April 2023, but polls are yet to be announced.
With inputs from IANS