From Our Correspondent
TURA, June 11: A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking early election to the GHADC was heard by the High Court of Meghalaya on Thursday, with the state government being granted three weeks’ time to submit its response via an affidavit.
Social activists Nilbath Marak and Flaming Marak had filed the PIL in May following the deferment of the polls.
The deferment was necessitated by violence that engulfed the Garo Hills region over the participation of non-tribals in the polls. Tribals of the region had opposed the participation of non-tribals.
The violence erupted in March this year and normalcy was more or less restored within a month. While many appreciated the state government’s decision to defer the elections, some felt that an announcement for early election was necessary to ensure the election system did not favour or harm anyone.
Speaking on the PIL, Nilbath claimed that the situation was ideal to hold the election, especially after the Governor granted assent to allow only candidates with ST certificates to contest. He felt that following this order, the election could have been held early.
The petitioners explained that the term of the GHADC expired on April 12, adding that administrative rule should have been imposed following the expiry of the term of the current MDCs.
Flaming said that four nominations were filed for the election prior to the deferment and these needed to be looked into.
“There should be a refund of the money they paid while filing nominations as the election was postponed. However, our main point is that there should not be a delay in announcing the election, as this can drag on forever if nothing is done about it,” he said.
He added that as per the Supreme Court judgment, an election cannot be halted after the Model Code of Conduct is announced. He said corrective actions were necessary to ensure that the law was followed.
The next hearing will be held on July 3.
