MC elections: Shimla to vote on June 16, result a day after
Hours after the high court directed that elections to the Shimla municipal corporation (MC) be held before June 18, state election commission notified the election programme.
The model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect. Election will be held on June 16 and result will be declared on June 17 after counting at district headquarters. The nomination papers will be filed by the candidates on June 2, 3 and 5. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be done on June 6 (10 am onwards) before returning or assistant returning officers.
Withdrawal of candidature can be done on June 8, before 3pm. Subsequently, symbols will be allotted to the contesting candidates by the election commission immediately after withdrawal of nominations.
HC GAVE POLL PANEL JUNE 18 DEADLINE
The Himachal Pradesh high court directed the state election commission to conduct the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) elections by June 18, on Monday.
The high court bench, comprising justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and justice CB Barowalia, asked the state election commission to notify the election plan within 24 hours of receiving the judgment.
“Take all consequential action to ensure that the elections are held no later than June 18, even if this calls for deviation from Rule 33 (regarding election programme),” read the 46-page judgment.
On May 9, the commission had deferred the elections that were due before June 4, the day the tenure of the current municipal body ends. The commission cited discrepancies in the voter list and ordered its “special revision”.
Local resident Raju Thakur filed a petition in the high court, submitting that delaying the election violated the law.
Acting on his petition, the court observed that the revision of electoral rolls cannot stall the poll process and should be done in a timely manner.
“It is incumbent upon the state election commission and other respondents to carry out the mandate of the Constitution and to ensure that a new municipality is constituted in time,” the judgment read.
It added, “The election to the municipality should be conducted before the expiry of its duration of five years as specified in Clause (1) of Article 243 (4).”
It ruled that the revision of electoral rolls was required to be carried out in time by the respondents and if that has not been done so within the timeframe, the election has to be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls.
The court said that the authorities should ensure that the new body of elected representatives of the corporation is constituted by June 19.
The election shall be conducted on the basis of the final electoral rolls published on May 5, 2017.
“The elected and nominated body of the municipal corporation shall not be permitted to be in office after June 4, 2017, and it shall be the duty of the state government to put in place a proper mechanism to ensure that the working of the corporation does not suffer on account of implementation of this judgment,” the bench ruled.