The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday directed authorities to complete the counting of votes for the recently held municipal elections in Kichha and Sirauli Kalan in Udham Singh Nagar district within three weeks. The direction came while the court was hearing petitions challenging the deferment of counting after polling was conducted on September 22. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay considered the petitions challenging decisions by the State Election Commission and the state government to postpone the counting process.

The counting had been deferred after the state government cited law-and-order concerns following disturbances reported at polling booths during the September 22 elections. Authorities told the court that the ballot papers had been sealed in ballot boxes and that additional arrangements were required to ensure that counting and declaration of results could take place peacefully. The court nevertheless fixed a three-week period for completing the counting process. The latest order follows an earlier intervention by the high court, which had questioned the decision to halt counting after the elections had already been conducted.

The dispute had reached the court through multiple petitions, including a plea by Kichha resident Alina Malik seeking directions for counting of the votes. In an earlier hearing before a single-judge bench, the State Election Commission had confirmed that polling in both municipalities would be held on September 22 but that counting would remain deferred until further orders. The matter was subsequently taken up by a division bench after additional petitions, including a public interest litigation filed by Kichha resident Naimul Hussain, raised questions concerning the municipal elections and the reservation process.

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The petitions also raised issues concerning the reservation of the chairperson's post in Kichha and the preparation of the reservation roster for municipal bodies. Petitioners alleged that the reservation status of the Kichha municipal chairperson's post was initially not included in a government notification inviting objections. They also questioned the preparation of the roster on the basis of 43 municipal chairperson posts. The dispute was linked to an earlier proposal to merge certain wards and villages with Kichha municipality, a move that had been stayed by the high court before the areas were subsequently re-incorporated.

Sirauli Kalan was conducting its first election as a newly constituted municipality. Polling there was held alongside Kichha on September 22, with voters choosing the chairperson and ward representatives. Before polling, officials had said Sirauli Kalan had 11,591 registered voters across four wards, with four polling locations and 13 voting centres established for the election. The State Election Commission had earlier said counting, which had initially been scheduled for September 24, would remain deferred because of the pending court proceedings.

The high court's latest direction means that the election authorities now have three weeks to complete the counting process for both municipalities and declare the results, subject to the court's order and applicable election procedures. The ruling brings the immediate focus back to the counting of votes after the polling process was completed on September 22. The petitions also contain wider challenges concerning reservation and the conduct of the municipal elections, which remain part of the ongoing legal proceedings.

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