HC seeks OBC panel report on panchayat polls

Lucknow: A Lucknow Bench of Allahabad high court on Wednesday sought the report of the Backward Classes Commission on panchayat elections and directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to clarify the status of the proposed election schedule.

A vacation bench of Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice AK Chaudhary passed the order on a PIL challenging state govt’s decision to appoint incumbent village heads (gram pradhans) as administrators after the expiry of their tenure on May 26 . The next hearing is on July 10.

The PIL argued that under the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, the tenure of a gram pradhan is limited to five years, but by failing to conduct panchayat elections on time and subsequently appointing the outgoing pradhans as administrators, govt has effectively extended their tenure for an indefinite period, which is contrary to law.