Taking a stern view of the delay in holding urban local body (ULB) elections in the state, the Jharkhand High Court has directed that charges be framed against officials accused of contempt of court orders.
The development came during the hearing of a contempt petition on Wednesday.
Advocate Vinod Singh, appearing in the case, informed that the court expressed strong displeasure over the government’s repeated failure to conduct the polls. The bench found senior officials prima facie guilty of violating court directives and ordered framing of charges against them.
Those facing action include Chief Secretary Alka Tiwari, former Urban Development Principal Secretary Vinay Chaubey, Home Secretary Vandana Dadel, Additional Secretary Gyanesh Kumar, among others.
During the hearing, the court also issued contempt notices to the officials. Chief Secretary Tiwari and several other senior bureaucrats were present in person before the bench.
The next hearing has been scheduled for October 14, 2025, when the charges are expected to be formally framed.
The contempt plea was filed by Roshni Khalkho and others, highlighting the prolonged delay in civic body elections across the state.
Currently, elections are pending in 49 urban local bodies, including Ranchi, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Medininagar, Deoghar, Giridih, and Adityapur. In 13 of these, polls have been pending since 2020, while in others, including Ranchi, they have been on hold since 2022.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Raghubar Das criticised the government, alleging that its deliberate delay has caused an estimated annual loss of ₹1,700 crore to the state.
He accused the administration of repeatedly misleading the court under the pretext of conducting an OBC “triple test” survey for reservation in local bodies. Das further said that despite the OBC Commission submitting its report nearly a month ago, the government has failed to act on it.
He added that the absence of a State Election Commissioner reflects the government’s lack of will to conduct the polls. “Backward communities are being deprived of their rightful reservation benefits in urban bodies because of these delays,” Das said.
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