Conduct Municipal Elections Within 4 Months: Jharkhand HC Directs State Govt

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday directed the state government to conduct municipal elections within four months.

Justice Anand Sen was hearing a contempt application filed by former ward councillor Roshni Khalko.

The court had ordered chief secretary Alka Tiwari to appear in person in the matter and she was present in the court during the proceedings on Thursday.

The court was informed that the government intends to conduct the elections by following the 'triple test' method.

The court expressed its annoyance with the stand of the government and said that the Supreme Court and the high court have observed that a 'triple test' for the election is not required.

The government cannot delay the elections in the garb of following the 'triple test' method, the court observed.

The opposition parties were demanding a 'triple test' before holding civic body polls.

The 'triple test' includes setting up a dedicated commission to conduct an inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness in connection with local bodies.

The second condition is to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned in the local bodies as per the panel’s recommendations. The third test is that the reservation should not exceed 50 per cent of the seats reserved in favour of SCs, STs, and OBCs taken together.

The civic body polls in Jharkhand have been pending since April 2023.

Justice Sen had, in January 2024, directed the state government to conduct the elections in three weeks.

However, the government failed to meet the deadline. Then, Khalko filed the contempt petition before the high court.

Khalko had earlier filed a petition seeking a direction from the high court to order the government to conduct the municipal elections. The tenure of the ward councillor had already lapsed in 2023.

In the absence of the elections, the representatives of the civic authority could not be elected, which has resulted in the failure of the civic machinery in the capital, Khalko had said. 

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