The Rajasthan High Court on Friday refused to grant a lengthy extension for conducting the long-pending Panchayati Raj and urban local body (ULB) elections in the state. Instead, it directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to complete the entire election process by July 31. The court also ordered that delimitation and revision of electoral rolls for the elections be completed by June 20.
Court's Directions and Background
The directions were issued by a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjeet Purohit while disposing of applications filed by the SEC, the Panchayati Raj department, and the Local Self-Government department seeking additional time to hold the polls.
On November 14, 2025, the high court had directed the state government to complete panchayat and civic body elections by April 15, 2026, a deadline later upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the elections were not conducted within the stipulated period. The state government then moved an application seeking an extension of the deadline, prompting former Congress MLA Sanyam Lodha to file a contempt petition before the high court.
State's Arguments for Delay
Appearing for the state, Advocate General Rajendra Prasad submitted that despite all possible efforts, elections could not be conducted due to delays in delimitation, pending litigation, and the incomplete exercise of determining OBC reservation. He also cited extreme summer temperatures, the approaching monsoon season, and the requirement of nearly 3.75 lakh personnel to conduct elections across 397 ULBs in the state as factors contributing to the delay.
Petitioner's Opposition
Opposing the plea for extension, counsel Punit Singhvi, representing petitioner Lodha, argued that local body elections were overdue since January 2025. Referring to the Supreme Court's ruling in Rahul Ramesh Wagh vs State of Maharashtra, he contended that elections could proceed even without OBC reservation.
Court's Observations
The high court agreed that polls could not be indefinitely postponed because of the pending OBC Commission report and rejected the state's request to defer elections until November. The bench also observed that excuses like rain and hot weather have no place in the State of Rajasthan, and said recurring climatic conditions cannot override constitutional obligations.
