The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Maharashtra State Election Commission for its failure to adhere to an earlier timeline set by the court to conduct local body elections, Live Law reported. The court set January 31, 2026, as the final deadline.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi extended the deadline for conducting the polls as a “one-time concession”, the Hindustan Times reported. No further extension would be granted, it said.
The elections are for all local bodies in the state, including the zilla parishads, panchayats and municipal corporations.
If any other logistic assistance was required from the court, an application must be filed before October 31, Live Law quoted the bench as saying.
The court also said that the delimitation exercise must be concluded by October 31, adding that it cannot be cited as a grounds to defer the polls.
The elections in 27 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 243 nagar parishads and 289 panchayats, have been stalled since 2022 amid a case in the Supreme Court pertaining to reservations for the Other Backward Classes.
This has meant that most urban and rural bodies in the state have been operated without elected representatives. The terms of these representatives for various bodies ended between 2020 and 2022.
On May 6, the court in an interim order directed local body elections in the state to be notified within one month and completed in four months. However, the court allowed the poll panel to approach it in case further time was required.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the counsel for the State Election Commission told the court that the delimitation exercise had been completed for the zilla parishads and panchayats but was going on for municipalities, Live Law reported.
The poll panel also cited the non-availability of sufficient number of Electronic Voting Machines, school premises because of board examinations and a delay in requisitioning staff as reasons for seeking more time.
However, the bench said that it was “constrained to observe that SEC has failed to take prompt action for compliance of this court’s directions in prescribed time schedule”. It added that board examinations were scheduled for March 2026 and cannot be grounds to defer the elections.
The court further directed the State Election Commission to submit within two weeks the details of personnel required to the state’s chief secretary, the Hindustan Times reported. The chief secretary must coordinate with other departments and ensure their availability within four weeks, it added.
The poll panel was also ordered to make arrangements and file a compliance affidavit regarding the availability of EVMs by November 30.
In its order, the bench said that the constitutional mandate of grassroots democracy through periodical elections to local bodies must be respected and ensured.
“Since the elected bodies have a prescribed term, no irreversible loss will be caused to those who want the appropriate amendment to the existing laws for inclusion or exclusion of certain OBC communities,” Live Law quoted the order as saying.
It added: “All those issues can be considered in due course of time, but meanwhile we see no reason as to why the elections of local bodies be not held” in Maharashtra.
The OBC communities account for more than 38% of Maharashtra’s population, a significant vote bank.
The Maharashtra government had announced 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies. But in 2021, the decision was struck down by the Supreme Court because it breached the 50% limit it had set on quotas.
In 2022, the state government again announced 27% reservation in certain rural and smaller urban bodies based on the recommendations of the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission, which was formed in March that year.
In August 2022, the Supreme Court ordered that status quo be maintained in the matter. The Banthia Commission report was also challenged through petitions filed before the court.
Since then, the matter has been under judicial review.
On May 6, the court directed that elections be held based on the quota matrix that existed before the report was submitted.
Also read: Why three years without municipal elections has been punishment for Mumbai
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