Supreme Court Rejects Plea to Delay Maharashtra Local Body Polls, Orders Elections to Proceed by Jan 31

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In a move to expedite the long-awaited local body polls in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the delimitation exercise for zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, and other local bodies in the state. The court made it clear that it will not entertain any petitions that aim to delay the polls, which are scheduled to be completed by January 31, 2026. The bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, emphasized that the State Election Commission (SEC) has announced the schedule, and the top court has passed categorical directions. The court will not step in to disrupt or derail the timetable, as this could further delay the polls. The plea was filed by Nikhil K Kolekar, who had challenged the delegation of powers by the SEC to divisional commissioners (DCs) for approving final delimitation proposals. However, the bench remained unconvinced and pointed out that the petitioner had not challenged the original communications through which the SEC and state government authorized DCs to undertake the task. The court's order comes closely on the heels of its November 28 direction, which cleared the decks for elections to more than 280 municipal councils and nagar panchayats scheduled for December 2. The bench permitted the polls to be held as scheduled but ordered that the results of 40 municipal councils and 17 nagar panchayats, where reservation exceeds the ceiling, will be subject to final orders of the court. The conduct of local body elections in Maharashtra has been a fiercely contested issue, resulting in multiple rounds of litigation and directions from the top court. The Supreme Court had in September ordered that all local body polls be completed by January 31, 2026, and the court is scheduled to take up the petitions concerning OBC reservation and the validity of the Banthia Commission's findings on January 21.