Now Reading: Punjab and Haryana HC orders fresh polls for Ludhiana MC panel by Sept 11
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Punjab and Haryana HC orders fresh polls for Ludhiana MC panel by Sept 11
Punjab and Haryana HC orders fresh polls for Ludhiana MC panel by Sept 11
The Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered fresh elections for two councillor posts in the Ludhiana municipal corporation's Finance and Contracts Committee before September 11, after the Punjab government declared the…
The Story in Brief
The Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered fresh elections for two councillor posts in the Ludhiana municipal corporation's Finance and Contracts Committee before September 11, after the Punjab government declared the mayor's nominations to the panel legally invalid. Hindustan Times reports that the court's direction came during a hearing on a petition by councillor Gaurav Bhatti, who challenged the appointments.
The local government department had withdrawn approval to a March 24 resolution, finding it violated Section 42(4) of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, which requires the two F&CC members to be elected by fellow councillors, not nominated by the mayor. The mayor's June 24 order appointing two councillors, including Aman Bagga, son of Ludhiana North MLA Madan Lal Bagga, was declared void, and both nominees have stepped down. The court ordered the election process be videographed for transparency.
The Indian Opinion
The 'mayor knows best' narrative took a knock when the law itself said otherwise. Punjab's local bodies have seen too many appointments made to please MLAs' relatives, not the people. The HC's videography order is a quiet admission that trust is scarce. The real test now: will the fresh election be free from the same pulling of strings that made the first one invalid? A clean vote before September 11 will answer that.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
