Shimla, Nov. 17 -- The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday issued notices to the State government and the State Election Commission (SEC) while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the alleged move to defer the upcoming Panchayat elections "under the guise" of disaster management.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhiwalia and justice Jiya Lal Bhardwaj sought responses from both the authorities after petitioners Advocates Dikkan Kumar Thakur and Happy Thakur questioned the legality of postponing the polls beyond the constitutionally mandated timeline.
The petitioners argued that the State government's reliance on the Disaster Management Act to delay the elections was unjustified and amounted to an at...