The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the deadline for conducting the long-delayed elections to Bengaluru’s civic body till August 31. The tenure of the earlier elected Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council ended on September 10, 2020, and since then the civic administration has been managed by a government-appointed administrator.
Earlier, on January 12, the apex court had directed the Karnataka government and the State Election Commission to complete the BBMP elections by June 30. However, on Wednesday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi granted additional time until August 31, while making it clear that no further extension would be allowed.
The extension came after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Karnataka government, informed the court about a shortage of manpower due to ongoing Census-related work and the upcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Singhvi requested the bench to extend the deadline for completing the elections by another two to three months. He told the court that although budgetary allocations for the polls had already been made, the government was facing a shortage of personnel to carry out the exercise. While granting the extension, the bench remarked, “You go and activate your machinery.”
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On January 12, the top court had also directed the state government to publish the final ward-wise reservation list by February 20. The proceedings stem from a plea filed by the Karnataka government challenging a December 2020 Karnataka High Court order, which had directed the State Election Commission to hold BBMP elections expeditiously after finalising the electoral rolls.
The Supreme Court has been closely monitoring compliance with its previous directions regarding elections to the BBMP as well as the newly formed municipal corporations within the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA).
In its December 2020 judgment, the Karnataka High Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Third Amendment Act, 2020, which increased the number of wards under the BBMP.
However, the high court had also ‘read down’ the amendment, observing that it would not apply to elections that should have been conducted under Article 243 of the Constitution before the amendment came into force.
Subsequently, on December 18, 2020, the Supreme Court stayed the high court’s order. In 2022, it directed the Karnataka government to complete the delimitation process for BBMP wards and notify the same within eight weeks.
Earlier, the Karnataka government had issued notifications regarding reservations for 369 wards spread across five newly carved municipal corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area.
Unlike the previous BBMP elections, which were conducted for 198 wards, the upcoming civic polls will cover 369 wards across five corporations—an increase of 171 wards.
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