Telangana High Court directs gram panchayat polls to be completed by September 30

The petitions challenged the inaction on the part of the respondents in conducting elections to the Local Bodies, i.e., Gram Panchayats though their term was going to expire on 31.01.2024, as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 243E and 243K of the Constitution of India and also as being contrary to the provisions of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.

“Having regard to the rival contentions and the material on record, this Court finds that admittedly the tenure of the Gram Panchayats has ended on 31.01.2024 and as per the constitutional mandate, the State Election Commission was required to take steps to conduct elections before the tenure comes to an end. The State Government also has to give its concurrence and provide necessary infrastructure for holding of elections. In this case, the delay in conduct of elections is more than 14 months. Without going into the merits as to whether the delay is justified or otherwise, this Court deems it fit and proper to direct the respondents to complete the 4th stage of election process, i.e., reservation of seats/offices of Ward members/Sarpanches,” the order copy read.

Advocate Gummalla Bhasker Reddy, the counsel for petitioner Koppula Parvathi, a Sarpanch, said the government kept giving undertakings and on the last occasion, assured to conduct the gram panchayat elections by February 2025 but failed to do so. “Before the expiry of the term (of gram panchayats), elections are supposed to be conducted as per constitutional mandate and Supreme Court judgments. But for 1.5 years, there was no election. The court decided it was high time, and fixed the timeline,” the counsel told The Indian Express.