The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered the connection of a writ petition seeking directions for the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission to release a detailed panchayat poll schedule with an earlier plea seeking the same relief. The bench comprising Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Indrajeet Shukla issued the order after hearing arguments.
Petition Details
The writ petition was filed by social worker Imtiaz Husain, who sought a court directive for the commission to present a comprehensive time-bound schedule for completing the entire panchayat election process before the expiry of the district panchayat tenure. During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner informed the court that April 30 had been fixed for hearing in another petition with the same prayer, and requested that the matters be connected.
Court's Observations
Earlier, while hearing Husain's petition, the court had asked the State Election Commission to file an affidavit stating whether it could conclude the polls as per the mandate of Article 243E of the Constitution. According to this constitutional provision, the election should have been completed on or before May 26. The court observed, "It is expected from the state election commission, which is the second respondent in this case, that the entire schedule of holding the election should be finalized and brought on record before the next date of listing."
Next Steps
The court has now tagged the two petitions and will hear them together. The State Election Commission is required to submit its affidavit detailing the timeline for the panchayat polls. The petitioner argued that without a clear schedule, the democratic process at the grassroots level would be adversely affected.
