Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has said that the printing of ballot papers for the parliamentary and provincial elections under the first-past-the-post has been started as per the election calendar on Friday.

Saying that he has not yet received the Supreme Court (SC)’s recent order, Yadav said: “We have no knowledge what SC has ordered us in its letter,” adding, “We had already replied to Supreme Court’s first ruling on October 24, but we have not received any other letter at the present.”

Speaking at an interaction organised at the Reporters’ Club in the Capital today, the Chief of election body said the process of printing ballot papers has already started at the Janak Education Materials Centre (JEMC) as per the election calendar.

“We will move ahead as per the scheduled programmes while giving due respect to the Supreme Court’s recent order on ballot papers printing,” Yadav said. He reiterated EC has not officially received SC’s latest order.

He notified that the printing of ballot papers for the parliamentary and provincial elections under the Proportional Representation category has been completed today itself.

Moreover, Yadav said that the elections would be held on the scheduled date, urging everyone not to harbor doubt over timely elections.

“No one can postpone the elections, the Election Commission will conduct the polls at any cost,” Yadav said.

The parliamentary and provincial elections have been scheduled for November 26 and December 7.

The SC on Wednesday had ordered the EC to ensure separate ballot papers for the two polls and present a report on the progress made to that effect since its earlier ruling on October 18. 

A single bench of Justice Dambar Bahadur Shahi issued the order in response to a contempt of court writ filed on Tuesday by Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) leader Sarbendra Nath Shukla.

The bench has also asked Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav to furnish clarification within three days as to why he should not face contempt of court for defying the court’s earlier order.