The Supreme Court has given the State Election Commission of Uttarakhand (Sec) But a financial penalty of 2 lakh rupees has been imposed. The State Election Commission reached the Supreme Court against the decision of the High Court. The High Court had banned the contesting elections of the people included in the voter list at more than one place. The Supreme Court called this stay right. The Commission was compensated to file a waste petition.
The Uttarakhand Election Commission issued an explanation circular on 6 July 2025. It was said that if the name of a candidate is in the voter list of more than one gram panchayat or municipal body, then he will not be denied nomination. On July 11, the High Court stayed this explanation.
The High Court had said that the clarification issued by the State Election Commission prima facie seems to be against Section 9 (6) and 9 (7) of the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act, 2016, therefore, this explanation should not be implemented. The High Court had made it clear that it has not banned the process of panchayat elections. The ban is only on the circular that was against the law.
The State Election Commission had told the Supreme Court that the election process has progressed a lot. Therefore, the order of the High Court should be amended. But this argument annoyed the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The bench said, “How can you take decisions contrary to any legal provision?”