NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The government has decided to entrust the State Election Commission (SEC) with the task of delimitation as well as reservation of wards pertaining to the village panchayats and municipal bodies.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said that he has already passed on instructions to hand over the particular task to the SEC. “This time, it was not possible to do the same due to lack of time available at the disposal of the government,” he said.
Speaking to pressmen, Parrikar said that henceforth, the SEC would do the work by framing guidelines and carrying out ward reservations, well in advance, to avoid any confusion or heartburns for that matter.
Meanwhile, citing technical and legal difficulties, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday argued before the High Court of Bombay at Goa to extend time for completion of the election process with regard to the disputed 14 wards of nine panchayats where the issues of reservation and delimitation have cropped up.
The High Court has further postponed the hearing for Tuesday (today).
“The matter was heard on Monday before the division bench of the High Court and all the arguments about the legal and technical difficulties the Commission would face while conducting the election process in these disputed wards were put before the court. The court heard our contentions and has postponed the hearing on Tuesday,” said Dr Y Durgaprasad, officer on special duty (OSD) to SEC.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had on May 29 stayed the High Court order and following the Supreme Court order, the SEC on May 31 approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa, seeking extension of time for the completion of election process in the disputed 14 wards of nine panchayats over the issues of reservation and delimitation.
Dr Durgaprasad said that the Commission would abide by the final order of the High Court and accordingly it will go ahead to conduct the election process in these 14 wards.