SC refuses to stay ongoing polling for Punjab panchayat elections

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the ongoing panchayat elections in Punjab on grounds of alleged irregularities in the nomination process, saying there will be "chaos" if courts start staying elections on polling day.

The polling for panchayats began at 8 AM on Tuesday in Punjab and the petitions, seeking a stay of the ongoing electoral process, were mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud.

"If polling has started today, how can we intervene at this stage? Probably the high court realised the gravity of it and vacated the stay on the elections," the bench, which also comprised justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

"There will be chaos if we stay the polling that too on the polling day," the CJI said.

The top court, however, agreed to hear the pleas challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision allowing panchayat polls in Punjab.

At the outset, a lawyer said the polling has started today and the high court disposed of around 1,000 petitions without a full fledged hearing.

"You can always challenge the (poll) results...How can we stay it now and the polls must have begun now. Suppose we stay now, there will be complete chaos. Staying the conduct of elections is a grave thing," the CJI said.

The lawyer said the election process was stayed earlier by a vacation bench of the high court and later another regular bench took up the plea of the state government and vacated the stay on the poll process.

This is an unusual case, the lawyer said.

"This is an unusual democracy also where we value the elections. There are remedies in the form of the election petition. We will not stay," the CJI said.

The bench said, "how can we stay the elections when the polling has begun...if tomorrow someone will want to stay the parliamentary elections or the assembly elections. Can we do that....We will list (the petition) but no interim stay," the CJI said.

The bench said probably the high court realised the gravity of the stay granted earlier and vacated the stay order.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently dismissed around 1,000 petitions seeking cancellation of panchayat elections on grounds of alleged irregularities in the nomination process.

The high court had ordered videography of the elections and made clear that no party symbol will be used.

Opposition parties have accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party government of arbitrarily cancelling the nominations of candidates associated with them.

With a total of 13,937 gram panchayats in the state, approximately 13.3 million voters are expected to participate in the elections.