Chandigarh, May 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) In the run-up to the Punjab municipal elections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday dismissed a PIL challenging the State Election Commission’s decision to switch from electronic voting machines (EVMs) to ballot papers for the May 26 polls.
The counting of ballots, now manually on paper, will take place on May 29.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry rejected the plea that the shift from EVM-VVPAT to ballot papers has been made abruptly through an administrative communication, without any statutory amendment, legislative sanction, or public consultation.
"It is now too late for us to pass any orders or issue any writ since the election programme was published as early as May 13. The election program of municipal elections has progressed to an advanced stage, where the last date of withdrawal of candidature was May 19," it held.
As per the petition, the impugned move undermines the constitutional mandate of free, fair, transparent, and credible elections, and violates Articles 14, 19(1) (a), 21 and 243ZA of the Constitution.
Advocate General Maninderjit Singh Bedi had contended that under Article 243ZA, only the State Election Commission has the authority to conduct the elections as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has no role in the municipal polls.
The State Election Commission contended that even if EVMs were made available, 15 to 18 days would be required for deployment-related processes, making EVM-based polling impracticable with less than a week left for elections.
During the hearing, the Election Commission rejected the state government’s claim that 15 days would be required for EVM training and preparations. The commission told the court that only 15 minutes were sufficient for the election process. It had informed the Bench that EVMs requisitioned for the elections were already “in transit” from Rajasthan to Punjab and that the remaining process of commissioning the machines could be completed in “just one day”.
The state will go to the polls on May 26 to elect representatives to eight municipal corporations -- Abohar, Barnala, Batala, Bathinda, Kapurthala, Moga, Pathankot, and Mohali -- and 102 municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
Source: IANS
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