Supreme Court Extends Deadline For Bengaluru Municipal Corporation Elections Till August 31

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the deadline for completing the election process for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from June 30, 2026, to August 31, 2026, as a final opportunity.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi made it clear that no further extension will be granted.The bench passed the order after Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the State of Karnataka, requested an extension, citing difficulties in arranging manpower in view of the upcoming SIR exercise in the State. Senior Advocate K Parameshwar opposed the grant of extension, stating that the previous extension was granted on the basis of a categorical undertaking by the State that the process would be completed by June 30.Singhvi stated that all arrangements have been made, but due to the SIR work, there will be manpower problems, which necessitate an extension of at least two to three months.The State Election Commission also requested the extension.It was in January this year that the Court set the June 30 deadline for the BBMP elections.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.Case Title: THE STATE OF KARNATAKA Versus M. SHIVARAJU AND ORS., SLP(C) No. 15181-15183/2020

Supreme Court Extends Deadline For Bengaluru Municipal Corporation Elections Till August 31

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Supreme Court Extends Deadline For Bengaluru Municipal Corporation Elections Till August 31

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