The rulings, first by the HC and later by the Supreme court, has thrown the poll process in as many as ten panchayats into disarray, leading to fears that the process will be vitiated
the goan I network
PANAJI
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday added a further twist to the ongoing panchayat poll saga. The apex court stayed the orders of the Bombay High Court at Goa which had earlier stayed certain orders of the Director of Panchayats designating wards in various panchayats as reserved for the upcoming polls.
Director of Panchayats Sandhya Kamat confirmed that the SC order stayed the High Court’s previous orders which affected the reservation of ten wards in seven panchayats, while another two HC orders staying the delimitation has also been stayed by the Supreme Court.
“We are awaiting the written orders to be made available, but for now, we know that the Supreme Court has said that the courts should refrain from interfering in the elections especially after the procedure has begun,” Kamat said narrating the sequence of events.
Three subsequent orders of the Bombay High Court of Goa are to be challenged before the Supreme Court in the coming days, Kamat confirmed, while stating that the Directorate of Panchayats could not do the same with the other three orders as the copies were yet to be made available.
Minister for Panchayats, Mauvin Godinho said that the Directorate of Panchayats will now approach the State Election Commission to organise another day for filing nominations in a bid to “weed out any negative implications” of the roundabout process that the panchayat elections has taken.
“The Supreme Court order imposes a status quo ante. In order to to weed out the negative implications on the nominations filed by open category candidates in these reserved wards, the government will approach the State Election Commission with the request to consider conducting the nomination process on a single day once again for these 12 wards. We will write to the SEC the moment we are in possession of the written order of the SC, by Wednesday or Thursday,” Godinho told The Goan.
The rulings, first by the Bombay High Court at Goa and subsequently by the Supreme Court, has thrown the election process in as many as ten panchayats into disarray, leading to fears that the process will be vitiated.
It is yet unclear as to what will be the fate of the general candidates who have filed their nominations in these reserved, de-reserved and re-reserved wards subsequent to the orders of the High Court.
