Punjab panchayat polls case: Supreme Court seeks State's response

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Punjab government and the State's Election Commission to a plea alleging irregularities in the recent panchayat polls in the State [Sunita Rani and ors v State of Punjab and ors].

A Bench of Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and Sanjiv Khanna directed that the replies be filed in four weeks.

The panchayat polls in the State were held on October 15.

Earlier on October 15, the top court had declined to stay the polls after noting that the polling had already commenced.

The appeal before the top court was filed challenging a decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which on October 14 dismissed around 800 petitions alleging irregularities in the panchayat elections.

The petitions filed by three Dalit persons alleging they were prevented from filing their nominations by supporters of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab.

The Punjab government argued before the High Court that petitions were not maintainable as the petitioners were required to instead file election petitions.

The High Court had initially stayed the polls for over 200 panchayats but later lifted the stay on October 14 and dismissed the petitions.

This led to the appeal before the Supreme Court.

The Court on Friday issued notice to the State government and the State Election Commission.

During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioners, advocate Ajit Pravin Wagh, informed the Bench that his clients are in the process of filing an election petition.

The Bench then directed that the same be heard expeditiously.