New Delhi, Jul 21 The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to apprise it of the logistical support including human resources needed to complete the remaining local body elections in the state.
The top court, while listing the plea for further hearing on Friday, said the polls including for 20 zila parishad cannot be delayed until next year on the grounds of ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi asked senior advocate Balbir Singh, appearing for the SEC, to clarify whether officers engaged in the SIR exercise could be made available for the conduct of the pending elections.
During the hearing, the bench noted that most local body elections in Maharashtra had already been conducted on the basis of unrevised electoral rolls and questioned why the remaining polls could not also proceed on the same basis.
"Can't wait till February-March for these elections. We can ensure you are provided adequate manpower and logistic support. Only a few institutions are left," the CJI said.
Singh submitted that the SIR exercise was underway and would conclude in October as the entire election machinery is currently engaged in the process.
He said diverting officers for local body elections would be difficult as the Election Commission had already notified officers for the revision exercise.
Justice Bagchi said that local body elections are not conducted under the poll panel.
It was for the SEC to seek the necessary support, the judge said and directed it to obtain instructions regarding the logistical assistance required and listed the matter for Friday.
The court was also informed by the Maharashtra government that elections remain pending only for 20 zila parishads and 211 panchayat samitis, while polls to other local bodies have already been completed.
On January 12, the bench had extended the timeline for completing the poll process for local body elections in Maharashtra by two weeks.
The SEC had earlier fixed the January 31 deadline. Later, it said that 10 more days would be needed as elections were to be held for some zila parishads and panchayats.
Earlier, the court had issued an interim order directing the conclusion of the polls within four months, that is, by September 2025.
In its order, the bench had recorded that the polls were stalled from 2022, primarily due to disputes over the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in local bodies.
