Gauhati High Court Grants Permission to Hold Panchayat Elections in Assam

Reacting to the High Court verdict, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that holding the Panchayat Elections would not be feasible in the month of February.

The Gauhati High Court has given its assent to hold the panchayat elections in the state. Barring nine panchayat councils in Sribhumi district, panchayat elections will now be held all over Assam.

After getting held up at the High Court for a long period of time, the Panchayat Elections will now be held barring the nine village councils in Sribhumi district.

Meanwhile, reacting to the High Court verdict, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that holding the Panchayat Elections would not be feasible in the month of February.

CM Sarma said that panchayat elections in the state will be held after the conclusion of the upcoming High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Higher Secondary (HS) examinations.

“The matric and higher secondary exams would begin in the month of February, and hence establishing polling booths at schools would not be possible during this period. Hence, panchayat elections would be held either ahead of or after the festival of Bohag Bihu,” he stated.

It may be mentioned here that nine writ petitions were filed challenging the final delimitation notice issued with respect to the delimitation of Gaon Panchayats and the delimitation process undertaken for the delimitation of the Panchayats under the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994.

The Gauhati High Court, while hearing these petitions, had restricted the government from issuing any notification on holding the grassroots-level elections in the state in its interim order passed on Dec 17.

However, Advocate General of Assam Devajit Saikia, representing the Assam Government, and the standing counsel of the Assam State Election Commission contended in court that the interim order restricting publication of notification for the panchayat elections cannot be extended to other panchayats of the state other than the nine for which the nine writ petitions have been passed.

The Gauhati High Court agreed to the state government’s submission and cleared the decks for holding panchayat elections in the state except in the nine disputed panchayats.

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