Prayagraj (UP), March 18 The Allahabad High Court has directed the State Election Commission (SEC) in Uttar Pradesh to file an affidavit stating whether it is in a position to conclude the panchayat elections in accordance with the mandate of Article 243E of the Constitution.
The court pointed out that according to the mandate under the article, the poll process has to be completed on or before May 26.
Article 243E establishes a fixed five-year term for panchayats from their first meeting.
The order was passed by a bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth Nandan on a written petition filed by Imtiaz Husain. The petitioner has moved the court seeking directions to the SEC to place on record a detailed time-bound schedule for the completion of the entire panchayat poll process well before the expiry of the district panchayat's tenure.
Fixing March 25 for the next hearing in the matter, the court, in its order dated March 13, said, "It is expected from Respondent No.2 (SEC) that the entire schedule for holding the election should be finalized and brought on record before the next date of listing."
"We also request the state to ensure that on the next date, either the learned advocate general or the learned additional advocate general may appear and apprise the court on the aforesaid issue," the bench added.
The petitioner has submitted before the court that according to the mandate of Article 243E, the duration of a panchayat shall be for five years from the date of its first meeting and "no longer".
He has further submitted that the date appointed for the first meeting for all the gram panchayats in the state was May 27, 2021, and accordingly, the five-year period comes to an end on May 26, 2026.