Telangana high court steps in: Panchayat polls on hold; sarpanches demand elections, oppose special officers

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court, which heard a batch of petitions filed by sarpanches seeking timely conduct of elections to the gram panchayats, on Monday concluded its hearing and reserved its judgment The term of the sarpanches ended in Jan 2024. The sarpanches, opposing rule by special officers, are urging the court to direct the state to either conduct the polls or to continue them till the elections are conducted.Justice T Madhavi Devi, who heard the matter, sought to know from the state why it could not hand over the required statistics and information to the State Election Commission (SEC), which would conduct the polls. Arguing the case of the state, additional advocate general T Rajanikanth Reddy sought 25 days. Senior counsel G Vidya Sagar appeared for the SEC and said they need two months from the time the state furnishes them the details of voters, etc.Gummalla Bhaskar Reddy, the counsel for the petitioners, said that the term of the current sarpanches was ended on Jan 31, 2024. Though the state is under an obligation to conduct it within six months, it has not been done so far. The non-conduct of poll is violative of the Articles 243E and 243K of the Constitution, besides being contrary to the provisions of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, he said. The judge reserved her orders.