The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended to August 31 the date for holding the much-awaited elections to the Bengaluru civic body.
The term of office of the erstwhile elected body of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ended on September 10, 2020, and since then the government-appointed official has been looking after its day-to-day affairs.
On January 12, the Supreme Court had asked the Karnataka government and the state election body to hold the Bengaluru civic body elections by June 30.
On Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi extended the time till August 31 and made it clear that no further extension would be granted.
The order was passed after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the Karnataka government, pointed out the shortage of manpower due to census work and the upcoming Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The Council called for extending the period for concluding the elections from two to three months.
Singhvi said the budget allocations have also been implemented but there will be a shortage of manpower.
As the time extended, the bench noted, “Go and activate your devices.”
On January 12, the Supreme Court said that the final reservation list for the ward will be published by the state government by February 20.
The order was passed on a plea by the Karnataka government which had challenged the Supreme Court’s December 2020 order that directed the State Election Commission to conduct the BBMP elections expeditiously after finalizing the electoral rolls.
The Supreme Court is monitoring compliance of its earlier orders with regard to the BBMP elections and newly created municipal corporations within the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA).
In its December 2020 judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Third Amendment Act, 2020, which increased the number of BBMP wards.
However, the Supreme Court “read” the amendment, holding that it would not apply to elections that should have been held under Article 243 of the Constitution before the amendment came into force.
On December 18, 2020, the Supreme Court stayed the apex court order and, in 2022, asked the state government to complete the BBMP delimitation process and notify the same within eight weeks.
The Karnataka government had earlier notified the reservation of 369 wards across five newly created municipal corporations in the Greater Bengaluru region.
Unlike the previous civic body polls, which were conducted for 198 wards, the upcoming elections will be held for 369 wards across five corporations, an increase of 171.
