Kerala - Kochi   

Government moots fresh polls to Palakkad council

Staff Reporter

high courtround-up

Kochi: The stalemate in the Palakkad municipal council over the election of the civic chief could be resolved only by conducting fresh elections to the council, said a statement filed by the Government before a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday.

The statement said the only way out of the crisis would be to dissolve the council and conduct fresh elections. Elections in two wards which were not represented in the council would not break the impasse. Without a chairperson, the day-to-day affairs and development activities of the urban body could not be implemented. The Government pleaded that it be allowed to dissolve the council and hold fresh elections.

The Court had earlier restrained the Government from dissolving the council until further orders. The State Election Commission had stated that it was taking steps to hold byelections from the two wards. The elections would be held on March 7. It had estimated that the anticipated expense for holding fresh elections would come to about Rs.10 lakhs.

Direction to Secretary

Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan directed the Local Administration Secretary to file a statement on the need for formulating a clear statute for prohibiting slaughtering of animals and processing it at meat vending places. The statement should be filed in a month after evaluating the illegal activities going on in the vending places.

The direction came when a writ petition complaining about a slaughterhouse in Valakam panchayat in Muvattupuzha came up before the judge. He said it had come to the notice of the Court that animals were slaughtered on unlicensed premises. The Court said there appeared to be lack of clarity in the statutory laws in this regard. It required an urgent order since the matter was one affecting public health and hygiene.

The Court also directed the secretaries of all local self-government institutions to file an affidavit specifically stating the number of slaughterhouses functioning in their places

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