Gram Swaraj Act amendment stalling panchayat polls, SEC tells HC

A vacation division bench of the High Court headed by Justice S G Pandit on Tuesday posted matter to May 27, the petition moved by the State Election Commission (SEC) over the delay in conducting Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections in the state.

The SEC had moved the vacation bench for an urgent hearing on the PIL filed last year in the wake of the Apex Court order directing SECs across the country not to skip their constitutional obligation of holding elections to local bodies every five years.

Senior counsel representing the SEC informed the bench that the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Act, 2021 has virtually tied its hands. The bench however said that the matter may be posted before the regular bench on Monday.

In the PIL, the SEC has stated that because of the amendment Act the entire process of elections to the Zilla and Taluk Panchayats would either get stalled or delayed for at least one and a half years. The SEC had prepared for the elections in April and May 2021. The reservation draft was also announced last year. However, the state government brought in the amendment. Because of the amendment all delimitation notifications and all notifications reserving the constituencies of the Taluk and Zilla Panchayats, which were in force, stood lapsed. The state government also constituted the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Delimitation Commission.