NRI Sabha polls delayed, petition moved in court

More than two months have passed since two-year tenure of the previous NRI Sabha president Parvinder Kaur Banga expired, but the authorities concerned have yet to make arrangements to hold polls to elect new incumbent for the post.

Irked, Jalandhar-based Karan Randhawa has once again filed a civil writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that there has been a delay despite a submission by the Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner-cum-NRI Sabha Chairman’s office in the HC in his previous petition that the process of conducting elections has been initiated.

Randhawa’s previous petition in the court was dismissed as rendered infructuous on December 23 last following the submission. The NRI Sabha Chairman’s office had stated that the schedule had been prepared and submitted for seeking the approval of Chief Minister-cum-Chief Patron of the NRI Sabha for conducting election. An internal communication dated November 24 last had been placed on record for this.

In his fresh petition, Randhawa stated that he had requested the authorities for an immediate issuance of the election programme, preparation of the electoral roll and completion of the electoral process within the constitutionally-mandated timeframe. “Despite written communications to both the authorities, no statutory action has been taken. No electoral roll has been prepared, no eligible voter list has been published, no election notification has been issued and no election schedule has been declared,” his petition reads.

He further maintained, “The initiation of the election process in law requires commencement of statutory steps in public domain and cannot be equated with internal file movement or administrative correspondence. The constitution of the NRI Sabha establishes a mandatory and time-bound electoral framework. Class 8 (iii) provides that the election to the post of president shall be held once in every two years. Clause 7 (d) places a mandatory duty upon the Chairman to ensure conduct of the election strictly in accordance with the constitution.”

With the government side maintaining that there have been previous accounts too wherein the election got delayed, Randhawa says, “Past deviations, including periods between 2015-2020 and 2022-2024, when elections were delayed cannot create a precedent for a continued violation. It is a settled law that an illegality cannot be perpetuated on the basis of past illegality.”

There are around 25,000 NRIs who are member of the sabha. The election is usually held in January, but this time it has got delayed. Even if the process gets started now, the election cannot be held before the next two months going by the procedural time required.