The municipal chairperson of the Dabra in Gwalior district, Laxmibai has been given a major relief in a major development with the High Court rejecting a petition to strike out her election. Municipal vice-chairperson Satyendra Kumar Dubey and other councillors had filed the plea, challenging the legality of her 2022 election.
The petitioners claimed the election was invalid due to the fact that the official gazette notification was not made within 30 days after the results. But in the hearing, the court observed that the petition was filed in January 2026, almost four years after the election, and there was no reasonable excuse as to why the petition was delayed.
The High Court placed a heavy stress on the need to take legal action. It noted that parties who come before the court with an unreasonable delay cannot be given relief. The bench also added that the chairperson had already made several administrative rulings over the years and such an intervention was not the right thing to do at this point.
Based on Article 226, the court pointed out that constitutional remedies need instant action and cannot be applied after a lengthy period of inactivity. It said that people who have not taken any action in years cannot take judicial action after that.
This decision has seen Laxmibai retain her municipal chairperson office and put an end to the long legal battle over her election.