The Rajasthan High Court constituted special benches and held hearings late on Sunday night to consider urgent petitions seeking protection from arrest for councillors and candidates ahead of mayoral polls in the state.
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. The petition questioned the timing of the police action.
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. Kotgate police had issued notices asking Ahmed and Ward 50 councillor Navratna Daga to appear at 10am on September 21, when voting for the mayoral election is scheduled.
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.
