CHENNAI: The HC on Wednesday questioned the delay in holding civic body polls in Tamil Nadu and asked why the state election commission (SEC) had not taken preparatory measures in advance to ensure that the elections were conducted before the expiry of the tenure of the civic bodies.
Justice N Senthilkumar raised the queries while hearing a petition filed by R Baskaran, an advocate from Chengalpattu, seeking directions to conduct elections to rural local bodies. The judge asked the government and the SEC to file their replies and adjourned the case by three weeks.
The petitioner’s counsel alleged that the constitutional mandate to hold polls before the completion of the five-year term had been violated.
The petition also sought to declare the October 19 GO appointing special officers to rural local bodies in Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts as illegal, without the authority of law, ultra vires Section 261-A of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994, and violative of Articles 14, 243-E and 243-K of the Constitution.
Appearing for the state, Advocate General Vijay Narayan informed the court that the census exercise was expected to be completed next year.
Ward delimitation could be taken up only after the census, following which reservations for SCs and STs in wards and posts would be finalised. The elections would be held subsequently, he told the court.
