Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 16: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete local body elections in the state by January 31, 2026. The court reprimanded the authorities for missing an earlier deadline of August 2025, which had been set to finalize the election process after restoring the OBC reservation seats to their pre-2022 Banthia Commission status.

A Bench led by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi granted a one-time extension to Maharashtra’s poll body but made it clear that no further delays would be tolerated. The court ordered the delimitation exercise to be completed by October 31, 2025, emphasizing that any postponement in delimitation cannot justify deferring elections.

This directive follows an interim order from May 6, when the Supreme Court had asked the SEC to notify local body polls within four weeks and aimed to finish the election process within four months. While the SEC may request additional time if necessary, the Bench noted that the elections remain subject to the outcome of pending petitions challenging the Banthia Commission's recommendations.

In August 2022, the court had previously instructed the state and SEC to maintain the status quo regarding the local body poll process. Earlier, in July 2022, the Supreme Court had approved the Banthia Commission’s recommendation to apply 27% OBC reservations in Maharashtra’s local body elections and called for elections to be notified within two weeks.

The Supreme Court’s December 2021 ruling had established a “triple test” before allowing OBC reservations: the formation of a dedicated commission to gather OBC population data, clear specification of the reservation proportion, and ensuring total reserved seats do not exceed 50% of all seats.

Maharashtra had introduced the OBC quota via ordinance in 2021, justifying it as a constitutional step to ensure political representation for OBCs and to give their voices a platform in governance.