Dehradun: The Uttarakhand High Court has put a stay on the upcoming three-tier Panchayat elections citing the absence of a gazette notification regarding the reservation rules. The court passed this order while hearing a series of petitions challenging the reservation rotation process adopted by the State government.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice G. Narendra and Justice Alok Mahra issued the stay order on Monday and directed the State government to file its response in the matter.
The petitions, filed by Ganesh Dutt Kandpal of Bageshwar and others, challenge the State government’s June 9 order which introduced new rules for Panchayat elections. Petitioners also objected to a subsequent order dated June 11, which annulled the earlier reservation rotation system and introduced a fresh rotation mechanism, allegedly in violation of previous High Court directions.
The petitioners contended that due to the new rotation system, certain seats that had already been reserved for three consecutive terms have once again been reserved for a fourth term. This, they argued, effectively bars general category candidates from contesting elections from those seats.
The High Court observed that the implementation of new reservation rules without formal notification has created a lack of clarity and procedural irregularities, warranting the interim stay. Further hearings in the case are awaited.
