Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Aug 5: The state high court on Wednesday August 4, directed the election commission (EC) to announce time tables for the zilla panchayat (ZP) and taluk panchayat (TP) general elections. A division bench of the HC comprising Chief Justice A S Oka and Justice N S Sanjay Gowda which was hearing a batch of public interest litigations seeking directions to the government and the EC to hold these elections in a time bound manner.

The HC clarified that the election commission is not obliged to be bound by the decision taken by the government. It posted the matter for further hearing to August 13.

The advocate for the government, who appeared before the bench, said that the state cabinet had taken a decision on May 17 this year to request the EC to postpone these elections to December end in the light of the Covid situation prevailing in the state that was aggravating. He also provided a copy of the document about this decision.

The bench objected to the government's stand. It wanted to know why these elections cannot be held in Karnataka if the same is possible in West Bengal. It asked the government to further justify the resolution of the cabinet on the issue.

The HC said that in the past, the HC had issued clear directions to ensure that elections to local bodies of which elected terms have been completed are held within the prescribed time limit. It therefore asked the election commission to move ahead on this basis.