KOLKATA: Even as the verdict of the just-concluded rural polls is under the scanner of the high court, the state panchayat and rural development department has issued a notification asking district magistrates to form boards at rural bodies by August 16.
The notification has prompted a section of government officials to raise questions about whether it would cut short the five-year tenure of several rural bodies, particularly panchayat samiti and zilla parishads which had been formed between September and October 2018.
They also found the decision to rush through the process of formation of boards may face legal challenges if someone takes up the matter with the court as the entire electoral exercise of the rural polls held on July 8 is under the scanner of the court.
“Responding to petitions related to violence during the process of the panchayat elections, the Calcutta High Court had earlier said the fate of the elected candidates depends on the cases pending before it. If someone challenges the government’s notification asking districts administrations to form boards before the court’s verdict, there may result in another round of legal complications,” said a government official.
However, some officials of the panchayat department said as the high court didn’t issue any order preventing the formation of the boards, the government couldn’t be at fault for initiating the board formation process.
“Besides, the tenue of many gram panchayat boards will expire on August 16 and, so for these rural bodies, the process has to be completed by that deadline,” said an official. The state BJP objected to the state government’s move. “The state government is trying to bypass the 73rd amendment to the Constitution which secures a five-year tenure for rural bodies. Dissolving a board before time is a violation of the amendment,” said a BJP leader.