High court today ordered government of AP to convene Panchayat elections within 3 months. Honorable Court gave ruling today on the petition filed by former Sarpanchs questioning validity of GO issued by government of AP.

Earlier, in the month of August this yeat, Government of AP issued a GO number 90, appointing special officers to all village Panchayats in the state. As part of this GO, village Panchayats came under special officer rule. Officials of various departments such as Panchayat Raj, Education, Engineering, Agriculture and other departments will be appointed as special officers as per the directions of the government. This GO was criticized by many as it takes away powers from elected local bodies and gives those powers to officers.

However, former Sarpanchs moved to High court questioning the validity of this GO and today High court ordered AP government to convene elections within 3 months. The court questioned AP government how long it wants to continue these special officers ruling. HC also nullified GO number 90. So, before the end of Jan’2019, Panchayat elections has to be held in AP as per High court ruling.