SC refuses to stay ongoing Punjab panchayat polls

October 15, 2024 11:39

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the ongoing panchayat elections in Punjab, saying there will be "chaos" if courts start staying elections on polling day. The polling for panchayat elections began at 8 am on Tuesday in the state and the petitions, seeking a stay on them, were mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.

"If polling has started today, how can we intervene at this stage? Probably the high court realised the gravity of it and vacated the stay on the elections," the bench, which also comprised justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

"There will be chaos if we stay the polling that too on the polling day," the CJI said. The top court, however, agreed to hear the pleas challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision allowing panchayat polls in Punjab.

In a significant development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently dismissed around 1,000 petitions seeking cancellation of panchayat elections. Earlier, the high court had stayed the poll process. PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

LIVE! Singapore scrambles fighter jets to escort AI plane

EC announces 9 bypolls in UP, holds back one in Ayodhya

This has invited sharp reaction from the Opposition, with the Samajwadi Party saying that the BJP was afraid of its defeat in Milkipur due to which it moved the court for "stalling" polls on the assembly seat.

Kuki-Meitei-Naga MLAs meet in Delhi but no Shah or Biren

Around 20 MLAs belonging to the warring Meitei and Kuki communities of Manipur met in New Delhi on Tuesday for the first time since ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state 17 months ago, in a bid to hammer out a peaceful...

Jaishankar reaches Islamabad for SCO, but no bilaterals

It is the first time in nearly nine years that India's foreign minister travelled to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained tense over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

'Sonia, Kharge, Rahul Have A Chalta Hai Attitude'

'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'