SC refuses to halt Punjab gram panchayat polls

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to pass any interim order staying the gram panchayat polls in Punjab.

A bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud observed that the apex court will not stall the election process once it has begun and passing a stay order at the present stage would result in “complete chaos”.

However, the CJI Chandrachud-led Bench agreed to consider the prayer for urgent listing of the petition challenging the elections on the grounds of alleged irregularities.

A large number of petitions were filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that nomination papers for the post of sarpanches were rejected in “an arbitrary and illegal manner".

After the High Court dismissed the petitions, along with the prayer for a stay of panchayat elections, polling for approximately 1.05 lakh candidates contesting for the posts of panch and sarpanch in Punjab began on Tuesday with voting happening through ballot boxes.

A total of 3,798 candidates have been unanimously elected for the position of sarpanch, while 48,861 candidates have been selected for the panch. Elections in 28 gram panchayats have been cancelled, and one has been halted. As a result, voting will now take place for 9,398 gram panchayats.

Candidates have been barred from using symbols of political parties, in keeping with the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024, passed last month by the Legislative Assembly.

The election is underway amid tight security arrangements despite calls for postponement by the Congress over alleged irregularities in nominations.

On Monday, a Congress delegation, led by Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, met with the Punjab State Election Commissioner, seeking a three-week postponement of the panchayat elections.

Bajwa said there were “massive irregularities” in the nomination process, with several candidates’ names being “wrongfully” rejected. He said many Opposition-backed candidates were denied the necessary no-objection certificates during the filing of nominations.

The Congress has also raised concerns over the use of the voters’ list from January 1, 2023, instead of the updated list from January 1, 2024, which was used during the Lok Sabha elections.