Raj HC defers hearing on contempt plea over delay in panchayat, civic polls

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court Monday deferred hearing on a contempt petition filed against the Rajasthan State Election Commission over the delay in conducting panchayat and urban local body elections in the state. The matter will now be heard on May 26.

The division bench of Justice Mahendra Kumar Goyal and Justice Anil Kumar Upman was scheduled to hear the contempt plea filed by former MLA Sanyam Lodha, Girraj Singh Devanda and others.

However, the bench adjourned the matter as the judgment on separate petitions seeking postponement of the elections was already reserved by another division bench of the High Court.

During the previous hearing, the court issued contempt notices to the Rajasthan State Election Commission and State Election Commissioner Rajeshwar Singh. The bench questioned the commission over issuance of a revised voter list programme beyond the timeline fixed earlier by the court for holding civic body elections.

The petitioners alleged that the “state govt and the election commission were deliberately delaying the polls despite clear judicial directions”. Lodha contended that Rajasthan has been facing a “constitutional crisis” for nearly one-and-a-half years as municipalities and panchayats continue to function under administrators instead of elected representatives. It is said in the petition that the delay amounted to wilful disobedience of the High Court’s orders.

According to the plea, the poll body fixed April 22 as the date for publication of final electoral rolls for municipal elections, even though the High Court directed that elections should be completed by April 15. The petitioners claimed that the revised schedule itself made compliance with the court order impossible.

Meanwhile, a separate application filed by the state govt and the election commission seeking postponement of panchayat and civic polls was heard on May 11 by the bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit, which reserved its verdict. In this application, the state govt has sought time till December, citing administrative and OBC reservation-related issues.