Nagpur: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a significant order regarding the long-pending local body elections in Maharashtra. The Court directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to issue the notification for elections to local self-government bodies—including municipal corporations, municipal councils, nagar panchayats, zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, and gram panchayats—within four weeks. The Court further mandated that the entire election process must be completed within four months, i.e., by September 2025.
This direction came during the hearing of petitions related to the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Court had earlier laid down the requirement to follow the “triple test” for implementing OBC reservation: (1) collection of contemporary data by a dedicated commission, (2) determination of the reservation proportion based on the data, and (3) ensuring the total reservation does not exceed 50%.
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06 May 2025
Box: Elections Mandatory Every Five Years
The Court noted that although the OBC reservation matter is still pending, further delays in holding elections will not be tolerated. Referring to its previous orders, the Court reminded the SEC of its duty to conduct elections for 2,486 local bodies at the earliest. It criticized both the Maharashtra government and the SEC for failing to uphold their constitutional responsibility, citing Articles 243-E and 243-U of the Constitution, which mandate that elections to local bodies must be held every five years without fail. The Court said the process must go forward without excuses like delimitation or pending OBC data.
Box: Background of the Case
Elections for 2,486 local bodies in Maharashtra, including major entities like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), have been pending since 2022 after their five-year terms ended.
The delay was primarily due to the lack of contemporary data needed to implement OBC reservations. The Supreme Court had quashed the 27% OBC quota in 2021 for failing to meet the triple test criteria.
In July 2022, the state approved OBC reservations based on recommendations by the Jayant Banthia Commission, but the new quota was not applied to 367 bodies where election processes had already started.
On December 25, 2024, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had stated that the Supreme Court’s final verdict on the OBC issue was expected in January 2025, with elections possibly taking place in March–April 2025.
However, on January 28, 2025, the Court postponed the next hearing to February 25, 2025, raising concerns about further delays. Tuesday’s order firmly put an end to such delays.
