Chandigarh, December 28: Turning down Punjab Government’s plea, a Vacation Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today adjourned hearing till January 7 on the petition for modification in directions to the authorities to hear the grievances of all candidates whose nominations have been rejected for the December 30 panchayat elections.
The Division Bench of Justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Mahabir Singh Sindhu held that the plea was required to be heard for review/modification by the Division Bench that had passed the order.
Acting on a bunch of more than 100 petitions against alleged arbitrary mass rejection of nomination papers for posts of panch and sarpanch, Justices Fateh Deep Singh and Harsimran Singh Sethi had on Monday set a 48-hour deadline for the authorities to pass fresh orders, directing that all complaints regarding eligibility be heard.
Punjab had on Wednesday moved the court for modification, review or recalling of these orders.
Additional Advocate General Ramiza Hakim argued that the entire poll process would be affected because of the order and that it was difficult to examine the cases of about 12,000 rejected candidates within the time span. The Vacation Bench declined to review the order and referred the matter back to the Bench that had passed it.
Meanwhile, when asked for a reaction, a senior official of the State Election Commission said: “Complaints of rejected candidates will be heard on merit.”
Source Tribune India
