High Court issues contempt notice to Punjab government over delay in municipal elections

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a contempt notice to the State Election Commissioner and the Punjab Government for failing to comply with its orders on municipal corporation and municipality elections. The court warned that if action is not taken within the next 10 days, a penalty of Rs. 50,000 will be imposed on the government.
Earlier, on October 14, the court directed the Punjab Government to issue a notification within 15 days for elections in five municipal corporations and 42 municipalities, clarifying that no new ward delimitation should be involved. However, despite the deadline expiring on October 29, no notification has been released.
The matter arose from two public interest litigations challenging the delay in municipal elections. The petitioners filed a contempt plea against the Chief Secretary of Punjab and other officials, accusing them of disregarding the court’s orders.
During today’s hearing, the High Court ordered the Punjab Government and State Election Commissioner to respond, stating that if the orders remain unimplemented by the next hearing, a Rs. 50,000 fine will be imposed.