Chandigarh, Aug. 23 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has criticised an election tribunal for its "callous" handling of a sarpanch election dispute in Rupnagar. The court described the tribunal's order as "bereft of application of mind," emphasising that it failed to follow the proper legal procedures in adjudicating the election petition.

"From the perusal of the order, it is clear that leave aside framing of issues, the tribunal did not even bother to call for response from the respondent. It proceeded to decide the election petition as if he was resolving a trivial dispute without realising that he was dealing with democratic rights of the parties. The order is bereft of application of mind," the bench of justice Pankaj Jain observ...