Panchkula Mayor vacancy: Congress councillor moves Punjab & Haryana High Court for timely conduct of elections

In the wake of the Chandigarh Mayor elections controversy, a Congress councillor has filed a plea before the Punjab & Haryana High Court seeking directions to conduct elections for the positions of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Panchkula, Haryana..The petitioner Akshaydeep Chaudhary, an elected councillor from the Indian National Congress party, moved the plea through advocates Pratap Singh, Parth Singh, Ishwar Singh and Sachin Singh.The plea underscored that despite clear mandates in the Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 and the Haryana Municipal Corporation Election Rules, 1994 requiring elections to be held for the positions within 60 days of the notification of newly-elected municipal councillors, the positions have been vacant for over three years since December 30, 2020.."This delay contravenes both statutory obligations and constitutional principles, significantly impacting democratic governance and the rule of law in Panchkula," the plea stated..The petitioner has challenged the delay on several grounds. Firstly, he argued that the inaction undermines the democratic process and deprives the residents of Panchkula of their right to be represented in the Municipal Corporation's governance. He added that the delay violates the specific provisions of the 1994 Act, the 1994 Rules, as well as Articles 243R and 243S of the Constitution of India, which mandate regular elections for maintaining the essence of democratic governance at the municipal level..The petitioner has alleged a deliberate avoidance of elections by certain political factions, which exacerbates the governance vacuum."By challenging the procedural and substantive legality of the delayed elections, the petitioner aims to reaffirm the principles of democracy, rule of law, and the constitutional mandate for regular and timely elections at the municipal level," the plea stated..He has thus sought directions to the Haryana government to immediately schedule and conduct overdue elections for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Panchkula in a fair and time-bound manner. The petitioner has also urged the Court to declare the respondent's inaction as unconstitutional and sought other appropriate relief as a third party..The Supreme Court recently observed that the conduct of the polls for Chandigarh Mayor amounted to "a mockery of democracy." The apex court took specific exception to the returning officer defacing ballot papers on video to influence the election results."It is obvious that he has defaced the ballot papers. He needs to be prosecuted. Why is he looking at the camera? Mr Solicitor, this is a mockery of democracy and murdering democracy. We are appalled. Is this behaviour of a returning officer? Wherever there is a cross at bottom, he does not touch it but when it is at the top, he alters it. Please tell returning officer that Supreme Court is watching him," a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud remarked..The Court was hearing a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Kuldeep Kumar challenging the Punjab & Haryana High Court's refusal to grant an immediate stay on the election result in which a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate was declared elected as the Chandigarh Mayor.BJP’s Manoj Sonkar was elected as Mayor on January 30 after he bagged 16 votes against the 12 votes received by the Congress-AAP candidate Kumar.This was despite the fact that the AAP-Congress alliance had a majority in the house with 20 members..Murder of democracy in Chandigarh Mayor polls; Returning Officer should be prosecuted: Supreme Court