BENGALURU: Expressing displeasure over the inordinate delay by the state government and Karnataka Panchayat Raj Delimitation Commission in conducting elections to zilla and taluk panchayats, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 5 on the state government and granted it time till February 1, 2023 to complete the process of delimitation and reservation to conduct the polls.

A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Ashok S Kinagi passed the order while hearing an impleading application filed by the Delimitation Commission on the public interest litigation filed by the State Election Commission (SEC) in 2021 seeking directions to hold elections to the local bodies.

“Not even an inch of progress has been made in the matter, though 12 weeks each were granted on two occasions,” the court observed orally.

State govt moving at snail’s pace on delimitation, says High Court

The commission prayed for an extension of 90 days to complete the publication of the draft delimitation and submitting the final notification. The court, however, said one may not find anything unreasonable in the prayer at first blush.

“But it reveals that the state government authorities are moving only at a snail’s pace, when we perused the orders passed by the court time and again and look into the granting of six months which will expire on December 16, 2022,” the court said.

The advocate general on September 23, 2022, assured the court that the state government was making efforts to complete the process of delimitation and reservation in 12 weeks.