SHILLONG: The Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya on Thursday allowed the petitioner of the PIL on matter related to holding municipal polls to avail other legal remedies.
While hearing the petition filed by Pawan Sharma against the state government, the court said the petition was disposed of as withdrawn with liberty to the petitioner to have recourse to other available legal remedies.
Sharma said he will file a contempt petition against the government.
In 1999, the Apex Court, while disposing of the case, had observed “that the municipal election may now be held within six months in accordance with law”.
As the same has not happened, a fresh PIL was filed in the court which has been disposed of on April 11, 2017.
In the 2017 order, the court had said, “We are satisfied that the state government had been carrying out its responsibilities as regards holding of Municipal Elections but same could only be held in accordance with the constitutional mandate and in that regard, the process of proper modification of the provisions of the Act of 1973 appears unavoidable.”
The court in the last order had said there was no reason to continue with the PIL any further and added that efforts must be made to carry out all the necessary processes with utmost expedition and in priority.
According to the counsel for petitioner, the respondents have not implemented the judgment till date compelling the petitioner to file the fresh petition.
