The Rajasthan High Court took swift action on Sunday night by forming special benches to address urgent petitions. These petitions sought protection from arrest for councillors and candidates involved in the upcoming mayoral elections in the state. The court’s decision underscores the heightened tensions surrounding the electoral process as the polls approach.
The court granted interim protection to nine councillors from Hanumangarh and Congress councillor Maqsood Ahmed from Bikaner. A single bench of Justice Nupur Bhati began hearing the petition filed on behalf of nine Hanumangarh councillors at 10pm, with the proceedings continuing past midnight, and subsequently stayed their arrest. The police did not issue an official statement. His supporters later took to the streets in protest.
Elections for mayors and chairpersons are scheduled on Monday in 273 urban local bodies, including the municipal corporations of Bikaner, Pali, Ajmer, Udaipur and Alwar. Voting in the Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota municipal corporations will be held on September 25. Notably, of the 60 seats in the Hanumangarh civic body, the BJP has won 15, while candidates supported by Independent MLA Ganeshraj Bansal reportedly secured 32 seats. Bansal’s supporters alleged that police detained him on Sunday in connection with a 23-year-old land-lease case without officially informing his family. In another late-night hearing, Justice Sunil Beniwal, with special permission from the Chief Justice, considered the petition of Maqsood Ahmed, the Congress councillor from Bikaner’s Ward 18 and a former Urban Improvement Trust chairman.
Lawyers said the proceedings were among the rare instances in which the high court heard petitions late at night on a holiday.
Several councillors and candidates approached the high court, apprehending arrest in cases registered shortly before the elections.
The court stayed Ahmed’s arrest at around 11:15pm and directed him to appear for questioning on September 30. The matter will next be heard on October 8.
His counsel, Bhavya Gautam, said the order will allow Ahmed to participate in the mayoral election.
