HC order on names in multiple voter lists adds new twist to Panchayat polls

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun

The order of Uttarakhand High Court on Friday in which it stayed the order of State Election Commission (SEC) dated July 6 has added another twist in the ongoing process of Panchayat elections in the State. In a controversial decision, the SEC had said that the nomination of any candidate in the three-tier Panchayat elections will not be cancelled if his/ her name figures in the voter list of more than one Gram Panchayat or in the Urban Local Bodies.

Hearing a petition of Dehradun resident Shakti Singh Barthwal on Friday, a division bench of chief justice G Narendar and justice Alok Mahra ordered a stay in the order of the SEC which allowed people having names in the voter list of ULB to contest the Panchayat elections. It directed the returning officers (ROs) not to act on the order of the SEC on the candidature of the candidates having names in multiple voter lists. 

However, the order of the HC has added a new twist in the process of Panchayat election and posed a challenge to the ROs in its implementation.  It will be interesting to observe how the SEC implements the HC order as the scrutiny of the nomination papers has already been completed. The ROs have done the scrutiny of the nomination papers between July 7 to 9 while the process of withdrawal of the nomination papers has also ended at 3 PM on Friday. 

 The symbols to the candidates will be allotted on July 14 and 18 for the first and second phase respectively. The voting for the first phase will be held on July 24 while voting for the second phase will be on July 28.

Meanwhile, the petitioner Shakti Singh Barthwal said that the HC order clearly states that the provisions of section nine, subsection (6) of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016 should be followed. He said that it will be unconstitutional if anyone having name in the voter list of ULB contests the Panchayat elections. He demanded that in the light of HC order the SEC should direct the ROs to seek an affidavit from the candidates that their name does not figure in the voter list of ULBs.