Jharkhand HC Raps Govt for Municipal Poll Delay; Top Bureaucrats Summoned

Ranchi – The Jharkhand High Court has strongly criticised the state government for failing to conduct municipal elections despite repeated directives.

During a contempt hearing on Tuesday, the court summoned Chief Secretary and Urban Development Principal Secretary, who appeared in person. Justice Ananda Sen, heading the bench, observed that the government had been “consistently ignoring” court orders and asked why contempt action should not be initiated against the Chief Secretary.

The court reminded the state that it had categorically ordered municipal polls to be completed within three weeks on January 4, 2024, in response to a petition filed by former Ranchi Municipal Corporation councillor Roshni Khalkho. The directive remains unimplemented.

The next hearing has been fixed for September 10, with the Chief Secretary directed to present a clear roadmap for holding elections.

The HC had earlier remarked that the government’s repeated defiance of judicial orders undermined the rule of law and created an impression that the constitutional system had collapsed in the state.

Elections were originally due in April 2023 after the tenure of municipal bodies ended, but the process was stalled when the state decided to conduct a “triple test” to determine OBC reservations in urban local bodies. The exercise remains incomplete nearly a year later, leaving administrators in charge of urban governance for more than two years.

With inputs from IANS