Supreme Court Directs Completion Of Bengaluru Municipal Corporation Elections By June 30

The Supreme Court on Monday set a deadline of June 30, 2026, for the completion of the election process for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the State of Karnataka to publish the final ward-wise reservation by February 20, 2026.Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the State of Karnataka, submitted that the work of notifying reservations will be completed within a month. The bench clarified in its order that no further time extension will be granted.Senior Advocate KN Phanindra, for the State Election Commission, informed the bench that the publication of the final voters' list is scheduled on March 16, 2026. He further submitted that the elections can be held only by the end of May, as the schools and colleges will be free to be polling stations then, after examinations. He assured that the SEC will schedule the elections immediately after the completion of the board exams on May 26, as schools and teachers are required for the polling duties.The bench directed that the elections be held immediately after the completion of the board exams. "The elections in all circumstances shall be concluded before 30th June, 2026," the bench ordered.To recap, the Court is dealing with the State's challenge to a December 4, 2020 decision of the Karnataka High Court, which directed the State Election Commission to hold elections of BBMP as expeditiously as possible by publishing election programme within six weeks from the date of publishing of final list of electoral rolls.On December 18, 2020, the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court order. In 2022, it asked the State Government to complete the process of delimitation of wards for BBMP and to notify the same within a period of eight weeks.In the December 2020 judgment, a Division Bench of the High Court had upheld the constitutional validity of Karnataka Municipal Corporation Third Amendment Act, 2020, which increased the wards in BBMP. However, it said, "It will have to read it down by holding that it will not apply to elections of corporations which ought to have been held as per Article 243 of the Constitution, before the Amendment Act came into force."The bench directed the state government to publish final notification of reservations for 198 wards as per delimitation notification date 23 June 2020 within one month. The order was passed while hearing a batch of petitions seeking directions for timely holding of elections of BBMP. One of the pleas was filed by the State Election Commission.The Karnataka government challenged the said order before the Supreme Court, contending that elections ought to be held to 243 wards instead of the 198 wards of BBMP as directed by High Court. According to the State, the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Third Amendment Act, 2020, which increased the number of wards to 243, was applicable to the elections.Meenesh Dubey appeared for intervenorsCase Title: THE STATE OF KARNATAKA Versus M. SHIVARAJU AND ORS., SLP(C) No. 15181-15183/2020

Supreme Court Directs Completion Of Bengaluru Municipal Corporation Elections By June 30

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