New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has directed the chief secretary to ensure sticking to a specific timeline to prepare fresh electoral rolls for the Gurdwara elections scheduled in August.

The court said the polling process would happen according to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee Rules.

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The high court directed the Delhi chief secretary to ensure the requisite manpower for the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections so the process began expeditiously and was concluded before the next elections of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC).

Justice Mini Pushkarna took a "very serious view" at the fact that despite repeated directions, the process for preparation of fresh photo electoral rolls of Gurdwara wards in Delhi had not commenced.

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"The chief secretary, GNCTD, shall ensure that a specific timeline is provided by the officials concerned with respect to carrying out the process of preparation of the fresh photo electoral roll of the 46 wards, as per the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (Registration of Electors) Rules, 1973," the court said in its April 8 order.

S Gurmeet Singh Shunty and S Paramjit Singh Khurana sought the court to direct authorities to initiate and complete the preparation of fresh electoral rolls for all the wards.

The plea said despite clear court directions in 2022, fresh electoral rolls was not prepared.

The high court on April 8 issued a notice to the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections, the Lieutenant Governor and others on the petition raising concerns over the prolonged inaction in reforming the electoral process of DSGMC.

The chief secretary was directed to hold a meeting with the officials concerned within four weeks, following which the minutes of the meeting would be filed in court.

The counsel for Directorate of Gurdwara Elections submitted that required a minimum of 12 months to preparation of fresh electoral roll.

The submission was opposed by the petitioners' counsel who said only five months were required for preparing fresh electoral rolls with photographs, as recorded in the 2022 judgment.

Directorate of Gurdwara Elections, the court was informed, had still not commenced the process of preparation of fresh electoral roll and was at the stage of requesting for deployment of officials for this purpose.

The matter would be heard on May 20.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)