Bilaspur.
The petition challenging the amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act was heard on Monday in the bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Kumar Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Aggarwal. Both sides presented arguments in the case, now the hearing of the case will be held on January 27.
Let us tell you that petitioner Naresh Rajwade, in his petition filed by his advocate Shaktiraj Sinha, said that the state government has brought Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance-2024 on 3 December 2024 last year. In which sub-section (03) of Section 129(e) of Chhattisgarh Panchayat Raj Act, which provides reservation to OBC category, has been deleted. The petitioner said in his petition that after the issuance of the ordinance, this important ordinance has not been passed in the session of Chhattisgarh Assembly from 16 January to 20 January 2024, only it has been placed on the table of the Assembly, due to which this ordinance is not in force at present. It has become void and void of law. While appearing on behalf of the state government, Advocate General Prafulla N Bharat said that the ordinance was brought on December 3, 2024. It was kept in the assembly meeting from 16th December to 20th December 2024. There is consent from the Governor under Article 213(2) for passing this ordinance. Whereas constitutionally the time is 6 weeks. Which will be completed on 27 January 2025. During the hearing of this case, petitioner’s advocate Shakti Raj Sinha raised questions on a decision made public in the previous cabinet meeting and said that it has been decided to extend the reservation related amendment ordinance by 6 months. At the same time, he also talked about the impact of the issuance of notification of urban body and panchayat elections on the petition. On which the High Court listened to both the parties seriously and included it in its order. While listening to the arguments of the government advocate regarding the ordinance, the hearing has been fixed on the same day after the completion of the constitutional time of 6 weeks on 27th January.
