In Uttarakhand, the posts in gram, block, and district panchayats will remain vacant for the time being as the administrators’ tenure has ended and a legal technicality is delaying their reappointment. The state government’s move to amend the Panchayati Raj Act through an ordinance has encountered a constitutional obstacle linked to a past case in Haridwar.
According to the Panchayati Raj Act, if panchayat elections cannot be held within the five-year term, the state can appoint administrators for a period of six months. Using this provision, administrators were appointed across the state—excluding Haridwar—but their six-month term has now expired. Despite this, panchayat elections could not be conducted, prompting the government to plan for the administrators’ reappointment by amending the Act.
However, an earlier ordinance to amend the same Act was returned by the legislative department, citing a precedent from Haridwar. In 2021, after the term of Haridwar’s panchayats ended and elections were delayed, administrators were appointed for six months. When elections were not held even after this term, an ordinance was brought to amend the Act for their reappointment. But since elections were later held in Haridwar, the ordinance was never passed by the Assembly, and thus did not become law.
Experts on the Panchayati Raj Act say that according to a ruling by the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench, an ordinance that has been returned once cannot be reintroduced in the same form. Doing so would be unconstitutional. Therefore, the legislative department had initially returned the ordinance citing this principle.
The state government has now made some amendments to the previously returned ordinance and sent it back to the Raj Bhavan. Until it receives approval, the panchayat posts across the state will remain vacant.
