High Court Issues Notice To Karnataka Govt On State Election Commission's Plea Seeking Final Reservation List In Gram Panchayats

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday (November 12) issued notice to State Government on a petition filed by the State Election Commission seeking a direction to take immediate action and issue the final notifications of reservation of seats under section 5(5) of the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayath Raj Act, 1993 in respect of 5,950 Gram Panchayats whose terms will expire by January 2026.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha issued notice and directed the State to file objections within two weeks. It orally said, “This is a serious matter, take instructions.”

Government Advocate Niloufer Akbar submitted that mandamus is sought for an office which is going to fall vacant in January 2026 and thus sought a week's time to take instructions.

To this, the bench said, “You (State) should also anticipate it. They are saying that for elections to be conducted there are 5,000 vacancies that are going to arise and they can't issue election notices unless you issue the reservation and how many seats are reserved in each panchayat they do not know. If you do not issue it, they will not be able to issue an election notice and they will have to defer it and you will have to appoint an administrator.”

The matter is now posted for hearing on December 11. 

Case Title: State Election Commission Karnataka AND State of Karnataka & Others

Case No: WP 33211/2025