The board had filed an application in the court on January 22, requesting an extension of three months before declaring elections. In its application, PCB said it had completed all the necessary preliminary steps for the elections and what remained was the notification of election date and the completion of the election process. The reason for seeking an extension was attributed to the government’s intention to hold election in all the 62 cantonment boards, simultaneously.

Former PCB vice-president Gautam Mahajan had argued against the extension and the court had given the board time to seek instructions from the Union Government. “Subsequently, the government filed another affidavit reiterating that the PCB had asked for an extension due to the “policy decision” of holding simultaneous elections in all cantonment boards of the country,” said Mahajan’s counsel Akhil Sibal.

“They stressed that though the PCB had completed all the preparatory steps for elections, over 30 cantonment boards of the country are yet to do so. Hence in order to ensure simultaneous elections, all the boards should reach the same stage, hence the extension was demanded,” said Sibal.

However, Sibal said the judge rejected the government’s request for a three-month extension.

This was the third time when the cantonment board had sought extension before declaring elections, the previous two having been in January and September last year. Mahajan had filed two writ petitions in 2006 with reference to the delay in elections in both the cantonment boards.

However, responding to the board’s application for extension, the high court had first granted an extension of nine months in January and then subsequently given another three-month extension, directing the boards to complete the election process by February 28.