Punjab Congress’ plea to stay the panchayat elections did not go down well with the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Refusing to stay the election process, a Division Bench of Justice GS Sandhawalia and Justice Amol Rattan Singh on Wednesday issued notices to the Punjab Government, Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, 31 deputy commissioners, and others and sought their replies by April 26.
The Bench, after preliminary hearing of the PIl filed by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) through its president Partap Singh Bajwa, has asked the respondents to file replies on alleged violations being committed while delimiting wards for upcoming Panchayat polls.
The petition has sought directions for restraining the respondents from holding the panchayat elections “on the basis of defective and illegal wardbandi”. At the onset of the hearing, Bajwa sought permission from the Division Bench to argue the case “personally”.
Turning down his plea, the Bench maintained that he cannot argue the case on the ground that he had filed his petition through a counsel. To argue the case personally, he should have filed the petition himself, added the Bench.
As Bajwa was not allowed to assist the Court in person, the PIl was argued by Dr Anmol Rattan Sidhu at length. Besides Bajwa, other senior Congress leaders including leader of Congress legislative Party (ClP) Sunil Jakhar, Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, and former MlA Sukhpal Singh Khaira were present in the courtroom.
Sidhu stated that the Government carried out the delimitation of wards in a “clandestine manner” without even considering the site plan at the time of delimitation. Sidhu, arguing the matter, also held Rakhra responsible for carrying out the entire process.
In its petition too, the PPCC has directly accused Rakhra of “interfering” with the process “at every level through the halqa in-charges or MlAs, at the local level, of the ruling party combine for political gains”.