Panaji (Goa): In a major setback to State government’s plan to hold Panchayat elections on June 17, the Bombay High Court at Goa has directed that the elections for 186 panchayats be held on or before June 12.

The Court while passing an order in a petition related to panchayat polls, has slammed government for delaying the delimitation process for wards, thereby delaying the elections.

The five-year term of the panchayats ends on May 26 and accordingly, the State Election Commission (SEC) had proposed to hold the polls on May 25. However, the same was declined by the Government who announced June 25 date for the election. The same was later preponed to June 17.

The Court declined the contention of the Government that they could not proceed with the delimitation process due to the lengthy code of conduct which was in force due the State assembly elections. The Court observed that there is no bar in going ahead with the process to delimit the Panchayat areas during the code of conduct.

The Government today submitted that the process to delimit the panchayat areas will be completed by May 5 and the notification would be issued thereafter in four days to reserve the seats.

The SEC in its submission said that they will require 33 days to hold the election after government completes the delimitation and reservation process. It also said that despite several reminders, the Government has failed to carry out necessary amendment to the Goa Panchayat Raj Act in regards to election.

Team TNV