Jharkhand: High Court’s big order regarding municipal elections, issue notification in three weeks

Jharkhand High Court has given order regarding the pending municipal elections in the state. The court has said that notification regarding elections should be issued within three weeks. The court has given this order while hearing the writ petition filed by former councilors Roshni Khalkho and Arun Jha. Elections are pending in 34 municipal bodies of the state. Of these, elections are pending in 14 since May 2020.

The hearing on the writ petition took place in the court of Justice Anand Sen. A copy of the order given by the court has been immediately given to the State Chief Secretary, Urban Development Secretary, State Election Commission and Ranchi Municipal Corporation through fax. During the hearing, the court in its comments termed not conducting civic elections as a failure of the constitutional system.

Why haven’t the elections been held?

The state government had talked about forming an OBC Commission and completing the process of three layer test to give reservation to OBCs in Panchayat and civic elections. But Jharkhand government has not been able to constitute the commission till now. The government had said that it will give reservation to OBC candidates by conducting social, educational and economic survey. Due to this not happening, elections could not be held till now.