The Supreme Court has extended the Himachal Pradesh local body election deadline from April 30 to May 31, responding to a state petition. The Court modified the High Court’s earlier order to ensure the polls are conducted within the revised timeframe.
The Supreme Court extended the deadline for completing local body elections in Himachal Pradesh from April 30 to May 31.
This decision was made in response to a petition from the state government.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant granted an additional month to the deadline set by the Himachal Pradesh High Court for conducting the local body elections.
In addition, the Bench, which included Justice Joymalya Bagchi, moved the deadline for finishing reconstruction work, delimitation, and reservation from February 28 to March 31, as specified by the High Court.
The court stated,
“No further application for extension of time shall be entertained,”
The Bench added,
“The direction issued by the high court that elections to municipal corporations/panchayats/urban local bodies are required to be held after expiry of the term of elected bodies are over is a correct expression of law and does not warrant any interference by this court.”
The Supreme Court also concurred with the High Court’s stance that the delimitation process should not be used as a means to indefinitely postpone local body elections in the state.
Earlier, on January 9, the High Court had dismissed the state government’s request to postpone elections for panchayati raj bodies by six months, mandating that the elections occur before April 30.
The Himachal Pradesh Government subsequently approached the Supreme Court to contest the High Court’s ruling requiring elections for panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and urban local bodies (ULBs) to be held by the end of April.
The elections for PRIs and over 70 ULBs were supposed to take place before March 31 but were contested in the High Court following a public interest litigation filed by several individuals.