The Supreme Court on Friday extended the deadline for completion of the much-awaited elections to local bodies in Bengaluru, giving the Karnataka government and the State Election Commission (SEC) time till December 31, 2026, to complete the civic polls.
Within hours of the order being issued, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the state would use the extended schedule to not only hold elections to the five city corporations of the Greater Bengaluru Authority but also complete the polls for all the pending local bodies before the end of the year. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, also comprising Justices Joymalia Bagchi and V Mohana, accepted the state’s plea that the ongoing Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls had made it impossible to meet the earlier deadline of August 31 set by the court.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Karnataka government, said that the review of electoral rolls is underway and the final voters list will be published only in November.
“The SIR process is now underway and the list will be finalized only in November. Elections cannot be held by the deadline of August 31, as ordered by this court,” Sibal told the bench. The attorney representing the SEC supported the state’s request for an extension. Accepting the submissions, the bench observed that the SIR exercise was in progress and ordered: “SIR is being conducted in Karnataka and the final list will be published only in November. Elections to be completed by December 2026.”
The latest extension comes despite the Supreme Court, as recently as May, extending the deadline from June 30 to August 31, making it “absolutely clear” that no further extension would be granted. The civic elections have remained pending since the term of the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) expired in September 2020. The Supreme Court has been monitoring the process since the Karnataka government challenged a 2020 Supreme Court ruling directing the SEC to conduct the elections expeditiously.
Shivakumar told reporters that the government has no intention of postponing the exercises despite the revised schedule.
“Today there was a big decision in the Supreme Court regarding the local body elections in Bangalore JBA… We will not postpone it at any time,” he said.
“We will complete not only these elections but all zila panchayats, taluk panchayats, gram panchayats and all municipal corporations. I will see that by next December all the elections will be completed. My duty is to see that all the new youth are given a chance,” he added.
The order came after a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and V Mohana was told that the review of Karnataka’s electoral register was still ongoing.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Greater Bengaluru Authority, told the court that the review would be completed in November and asked for additional time to hold the elections.
Bengaluru has not had an elected municipal council for nearly six years. Since the term of the BBMP Board ended in September 2020, the city’s civic administration has remained under the supervision of government-appointed officials.
