The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking postponement of the elections of the members of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) in view of the recent unprecedented spike of coronavirus cases in the national capital. A division bench of Justices Rajiv Sahai Endlaw and Amit Bansal dismissed the petition filed by Jagmohan Singh and Manjeet Singh Chugh. "There is no merit in the petition. Dismissed," the court said.
Jagmohan Singh and Manjeet Singh Chugh are voters in the Voters' List maintained by the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections, a body under the respondent Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and responsible for the conduct of elections of the members of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee.
The court opined that the decision, to hold or not to hold an election or allow or not to allow a particular event to take place, are matters of policy and policy matters are best left to the Executive Wing of the Constitution of India which has the wherewithal to take all relevant factors into consideration before arriving at a decision in such respect.
The court noted, "Once a decision to hold the election has been taken, the election process begun and not stopped inspite of the rise in the number of infected persons in the city and normal life permitted to go on in the city save for a few restrictions and once it is shown that guidelines for ensuring that the holding of election does not lead to spread of COVID-19 any more than it is already taking place, the Court would not interfere in such policy matter."
The Court also said, "The general restrictions put in place by the Governments. Each institution is taking its own steps for restricting the spread of the Covid-19 virus. We are confident that not only will
The court said, "GNCTD enforces guidelines already issued to prevent the spread of the virus during the election. DSGMC will also take possible step to ensure the elections are not a source of the spread of the virus."
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