The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday directed that the meeting for administering oath to the newly elected councillors of the Municipal Council, Nawanshahr, and for electing its president and vice-president(s), scheduled to be held on Wednesday, be conducted in the presence of a court-appointed observer.The direction came as the Bench recorded a series of undertakings given by the Punjab government regarding security arrangements, videography and preservation of records.The Division Bench of Justice Deepak Sibal and Justice Rupinderjit Chahal was hearing a petition alleging that a similar meeting convened on July 30 had been postponed for mala fide reasons to enable councillors, who were not among the petitioners, to politically consolidate themselves.Seeking fresh directions, the petitioners prayed that another meeting be convened at the earliest under conditions ensuring free and fair elections to the posts of president and vice-presidents. Appearing for the state, Additional Advocate-General Jastej Singh denied the allegations and submitted that the July 30 meeting had been postponed “on account of intelligence inputs and apprehension of breach of peace” as adequate police force was not available at the venue. He informed the court that the meeting “shall now be convened on August 5 at 3 pm”.The state also undertook before the court that “such meeting shall be videographed from all possible angles, both outside and inside the venue; such videography shall include the process of voting by all the members.”It further stated that “the CCTV/videographed material along with the copies of the written proceedings of the meeting, in original, shall be preserved under the care and custody of the Deputy Commissioner, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, for a period of six months.”The state additionally assured the Bench, “The State shall ensure that prior to such meeting all 19 newly elected councillors reach the venue and that adequate security, if so required, shall also be made available where the meeting/elections are going to take place.”Recording these submissions, the Bench directed: “We direct that the state shall remain bound by the afore statement made before us by the state counsel. In particular, the state shall also ensure that all 19 members reach the venue reasonably before the conduct of such meeting.”The High Court also directed that advocate Harish Mehla, who had earlier been appointed as court observer, “remain present throughout the proceedings of the meeting”.  The Bench further directed that after the meeting concluded, the Deputy Commissioner would make arrangements for “securely bringing back the appointed Observer from the venue of the meeting to his office”.It also granted liberty to the Observer “to take photographs/video of the proceedings both inside and outside the venue”. The court ordered that the Observer’s report, along with photographs or videos, if any, be produced before it “in a sealed cover on the adjourned date”.Adjourning the matter to August 10, the High Court also directed the state to produce the original record relating to the alleged security threat in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar on July 30, “with special reference to the record regarding the deployment of policemen vis-à-vis the total number of policemen at the disposal of the Senior Superintendent of Police, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.”