Jharkhand High Court directs govt to issue civic body poll notification in 3 weeks

Ranchi, January 4:Jharkhand High Court has asked Hemant Soren government to issue notification for municipal elections within three weeks.

In the case of Ranchi councilor Roshni Khalkho vs Jharkhand Government was heard in the court of Justice Ananda Sen in the High Court.

Citing the Supreme Court’s order in the case Vikas Kishan Rao vs Maharashtra Government’s writ petition number 980/2019, the government said that there is a clear instruction of the Supreme Court that civic/panchayat elections should not be conducted without conducting triple test. This is the reason why municipal elections have not been conducted in Jharkhand yet.

Responding to the Jharkhand government’s plea, petitioner Roshni Khalkho’s advocate Vinod Singh said that the government is not only violating the 74th Constitutional Amendment but is also misleading the court by giving incomplete answers.

Advocate Vinod Singh said that the government mentions the case of Vikas Kishan Rao Gawli vs Maharashtra Government regarding not holding elections but does not mention the writ petition number 278/2022 of Suresh Mahajan vs Madhya Pradesh Government where the Supreme Court said that Civic/Panchayat elections should be conducted by conducting triple test but this does not mean that elections should not be conducted at all.

The advocate argued that it is wrong not to hold elections under any circumstances. The Supreme Court has not said that elections cannot be held without the triple test. The Supreme Court has also made it clear that if the state government issues an order to conduct elections then no one can stop it.

Advocate Vinod Singh said that the said order of the Supreme Court was for all the states including Madhya Pradesh.

Justice Ananda Sen, while executing the petition, asked the state government to announce elections within three weeks and issue a notification.