Ranchi. Jharkhand High Court has expressed deep displeasure over non-conducting of municipal body elections in the state. Terming it a case of contempt, the court said that the state government cannot stop elections in the name of the process of triple test for OBC reservation in municipal bodies. The court has also issued a notice to the Election Commission of India in this matter. The next hearing of this case has been fixed on January 16.
In this regard, the Jharkhand High Court, while hearing the petition of outgoing Ranchi Municipal Corporation councilor Roshni Khalkho and others, had ordered to declare the dates of municipal elections within three weeks on January 4, 2024, about a year ago. The High Court had said that keeping the elections pending even after the tenure of the municipal bodies is over is a constitutional and spatial breakdown. Due to non-compliance of this decision of the court, Roshni Khalkho has filed a contempt petition. This matter was heard in the bench of Justice Anand Sen on Monday.
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It was informed by the state government that the process of triple test is going on to decide the reservation percentage of backward classes in municipal bodies. After its completion, elections will be conducted. Expressing displeasure on this, the court said that it is wrong to stop the elections under the guise of triple test. During the hearing, the advocate of the State Election Commission said that despite the request, the Election Commission of India has not yet provided the new voter list. The state government is also not cooperating in this.
On this, the court directed the Election Commission of India to issue a notice. It is noteworthy that the tenure of all municipal bodies in Jharkhand has ended in April 2023. Elections for the new term should have been held by April 27, 2023, but this has not happened. The reason behind this is that the state government has decided to conduct a triple test in the state to decide the percentage of OBC reservation before holding new elections for municipal bodies and its process has not been completed yet.