Kolkata: There is uncertainty over holding of the panchayat elections in West Bengal on May 14 with the Calcutta high court on Tuesday saying that the date announced by the State Election Commission cannot be treated as final.

The court said that May 14 can be considered as a tentative date only.

The final decision on the election date will be considered by a division bench headed by the chief justice of the high court, Justice Subrata Talukdar said passing the direction on petitions by political parties challenging the SEC’s decision to hold the panchayat poll on a single day.

Opposition BJP, CPI(M) and Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) had moved the court of Justice Talukdar claiming that his earlier directions on announcing the date/dates for elections were also not complied with by the commission with regard to prior consultations with stakeholders.