The Punjab government informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday that elections to the state’s zila parishads and panchayat samitis, earlier scheduled for October 5, would now be held by December 5 in view of the disruption caused by the recent floods.
Appearing before Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, the state’s counsel said permission had been sought and granted by the court to defer the polls in view of the situation caused by heavy flooding. “The elections will be held by December 5. The government notification has been issued and will be placed on record,” the counsel told the bench.
Chief Justice Nagu, while taking note of the submission, observed that the state cannot “delay the process indefinitely” given the constitutional mandate to conduct regular local body elections. “You should have started the process two months before the tenure expired. Were you waiting for floods to come?” the Chief Justice remarked, referring to an earlier court direction that polls be held by May 31, 2025.
The court was informed that the tenures of different local bodies in Punjab had expired on staggered dates in 2024 and early 2025, and that the delay was caused by exceptional circumstances. The counsel clarified that the deferment applied only to Punjab, while Haryana was proceeding with its local body elections as scheduled.
The state placed before the bench a September 25, 2025 notification published in the Punjab Government Gazette, formally fixing December 5 as the outer limit for completing elections to Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads.
Taking the notification on record, Chief Justice Nagu listed the case for further hearing in the last week of November.
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