The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday delivered its final verdict on a petition seeking the timely conduct of panchayat elections and directed the State Election Commission to hold the elections before April 30. The court made it clear that elections to constitutional bodies cannot be postponed indefinitely.
The division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Romesh Verma also directed the Panchayati Raj Department, the State Election Commission and the state government to sit together and prepare a concrete strategy to ensure that the panchayat elections are conducted on time.
As per the court’s order, the election process for Panchayati Raj institutions will begin on February 20, with polling scheduled to be completed by April 30. The court observed that delaying elections weakens constitutional institutions and cannot be allowed.
Earlier, on January 7, the High Court had reserved its judgment after hearing arguments from all parties. During the hearing, the senior advocate representing the state government expressed its inability to conduct the panchayat elections within the stipulated time. The government denied allegations of deliberately delaying the polls and said its intention to hold elections was clear. It argued that the process of forming new panchayats, village committees and district councils was still underway.
The government further submitted that due to legal procedures, it would take at least six more months to conduct the elections. It said even if the reservation roster was released immediately, a minimum of 90 days would be required to complete the election process. The State Election Commission also highlighted practical difficulties, stating that elections could not be held in February and March due to school examinations and staff deployment. It added that after May, employees would be engaged in census-related work, followed by heavy rainfall in July and August.
On the other hand, the senior advocate appearing for the petitioner strongly refuted the government’s claims and accused it of deliberately delaying the elections. It was argued that the government had an entire year to complete the delimitation exercise but kept citing disaster-related reasons. The petitioner urged the court to direct the government to conduct the current panchayat elections based on old census data and to carry out the new delimitation exercise for future elections.
The petitioner also contended that the government machinery had failed to discharge its constitutional duty. Panchayat elections, it was argued, are mandatory and must be held within six months of the expiry of the previous term.
After considering arguments from both sides, the High Court delivered its final judgment, directing that the panchayat elections be completed within the fixed timeline and reaffirming the constitutional importance of elected local bodies.
