With the election to the post of Sarpanch of Salvador do Mundo scheduled for Wednesday, the High Court of Bombay at Goa disposed of a petition filed by Namrata Chodankar, observing that the poll is being conducted within the time frame prescribed under the statutory rules.
The court noted that the resignation of the former sarpanch, tendered on February 13, was accepted by the Director of Panchayats on February 23. Under the applicable rules, the election to fill the vacancy must be held within 60 days of the date of acceptance of the resignation.
The Bench observed that the 60-day period expires on April 22, the very date fixed for the election, and therefore found no merit in the petitioner’s grievance.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner argued that there had been a delay in holding the election and pointed out that the date had been announced on multiple occasions only to be postponed for various reasons. It was further submitted that in earlier instances, elections to vacant posts had been conducted within a week, and sought directions from the court to advance the poll date.
The State, however, submitted that, for administrative reasons, the election could not be held on April 17 as previously proposed and was instead rescheduled for April 22.
Since the poll is being held strictly within the statutory 60-day period, the contentions raised in the petition could not be sustained, the State argued, urging the court to dispose of the matter.
The Bench recorded that the Director of Panchayats fixed the election date in accordance with law after the resignation was accepted, and said no violation whatsoever had occurred. It cautioned the petitioner against pursuing the matter further, warning of a fine for wasting the court’s time.
