LUCKNOW: Expressing concern over the delay in conducting Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court asked the State Election Commission to indicate when the polls were likely to be held.
A division bench, comprising Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Awadhesh Kumar Chaudhary, observed while hearing a petition filed by Omprakash Prajapati challenging the appointment of Gram Pradhans as administrators. The next hearing has been scheduled for July 10.
The court directed the state government to submit the report of the Backward Classes Commission on the next date of hearing and asked the Election Commission to provide the probable schedule for Panchayat elections.
Petitioner Omprakash Prajapati argued that under Section 12(3)(a) of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, the tenure of a Gram Pradhan was limited to five years from the date of taking oath.
He contended that by failing to hold elections in time and appointing existing Gram Pradhans as administrators, the government had effectively extended their tenure indirectly, which, he claimed, was contrary to the law.
The petitioner further stated that whenever Panchayat elections were delayed in the past, Assistant Development Officers (ADOs) or other competent government officials were appointed to administer Gram Panchayats.
He argued that the same practice should have been followed this time as well. Notably, the term of Uttar Pradesh’s 57,694 Gram Panchayats ended on May 26, 2026. However, the state government issued an order on May 25 appointing existing Gram Pradhans as administrators until Panchayat elections are completed or for a maximum period of six months.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging this decision is currently being heard by the High Court. In 2021, the Panchayat elections were delayed by around three months. The elections, before 2021, were conducted between October and December 2015, and the first meeting of newly elected Gram Pradhans took place on January 26, 2016. Accordingly, their tenure was due to end on January, 26 2021.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delays in voter list verification, Panchayat elections were conducted in four phases in April, 2021.
During the interim period, Assistant Development Officers (ADOs) or Block Development Officers (BDOs) were appointed as administrators.
Similarly, when Panchayat elections were delayed by around two months in the year 2000, government officials were appointed to oversee Gram Panchayats.
This time, however, the Yogi Adityanath government opted to assign the responsibility to Gram Pradhans themselves, following models used in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
However, the state government apparently believed that replacing the outgoing Pradhans with government officials could lower their effectiveness and weaken grassroots political engagement.
Officials also believe that village development works and implementation of government schemes could be affected if responsibility were transferred entirely to administrators ahead of elections. For these reasons, the government decided to appoint existing Gram Pradhans as administrators.