Petitions challenging Panchayat elections dismissed

The High Court on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions which had challenged the reservation list for the upcoming Zilla panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections.

Justice S Abdul Nazeer dismissed the petition on the ground that there were no merits in the petitioners’ claims.

The petitioners had questioned the legality of reserving seats to particular category in the reservation list for the elections and a few other petitioners had challenged the amendment made by the government in 2015 to Section 162 of the Panchayat Raj Act, limiting the cycle of rotation of reservation for a seat in the Zilla Panchayat for 10 years. 

‘Stay granted’

The petitioners had claimed that the these issues had been challenged before the Supreme Court and a stay was granted on the amendment.  Despite this, the State Election Commission (SEC) issued a notification incorporating the amendment.

However, the State Election Commission argued that the stay pertained to the election held previously and the election notification, once issued, cannot be changed.
The bench dismissed the petitions and adjourned the hearing for two weeks with regard to the petitions challenging the delimitation list.