High court appoints Justice Harbans Lal as observer for Phagwara mayoral election

For ensuring the smooth conduct of mayoral election of Phagwara Municipal Corporation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has appointed Justice Harbans Lal as an independent observer. A direction came as a division bench of the high court rapped the authorities concerned for failure to conduct the election on the initially scheduled date.

The meeting for the purpose, now rescheduled for February 1 at 4 pm will be held under the physical supervision of Justice Lal — a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court also issued a series of stringent directives, including mandatory videography of the proceedings, deployment of adequate security, and strict compliance by the authorities to ensure a free and fair election. 

The appointment of Justice Lal, residing in Nawanshahr, was proposed by the contesting parties and accepted by the court. The returning officer was asked to coordinate with him well before the scheduled election to facilitate his role as an observer. 

The court also ordered Kapurthala SSP to ensure adequate security for all participating members and to prevent any ruckus in and around the meeting premises before, during, and after the proceedings. The authorities were also directed to videograph the entire election process to maintain transparency and accountability. 

The bench during the course of hearing was told that they meeting scheduled on January 25 was conducted, but the elections could not take place due to the ruckus in the House. The bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur observed the court had issued clear directions to the respondent-authorities to conduct the election on the scheduled date and time as per the notice dated January 22.

“The respondents cannot be heard saying that the election could not be conducted due to ruckus in the meeting. When this court had specifically directed the respondent-authorities to do the needful, such an excuse is not acceptable. Even if it is taken that there was a ruckus, then also the respondent-state was possessed of sufficient men and machinery to conduct the election and the stand taken by them is nothing, but an attempt to wriggle out of their duties and responsibilities. The conduct of the respondent-authorities is contemptuous in nature and they are required to be proceeded against accordingly,” the bench asserted.

The court initially considered proceeding against the erring officials but refrained from doing so after the contesting parties reached a consensus to hold the election under an independent observer. This agreement paved the way for Justice Lal’s appointment.