Jaipur, Nov 15 (PTI) The Rajasthan High Court has directed the state government to conduct the pending panchayat and municipal elections together and complete the entire process by April 15, 2026.
It also asked authorities to finish the delimitation exercise for both the bodies by December 31.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice S P Sharma and Justice Sanjit Purohit on Friday dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the reorganisation and delimitation of panchayats, as well as pleas against the removal of pradhans and sarpanches who were reappointed as administrators.
The bench said the delimitation process “cannot be challenged again.” With the order, the state must now hold elections in over 11,000 gram panchayats and 309 urban local bodies.
The petitions, filed by former MLA Sanyam Lodha and 438 others, had argued that postponing elections violated Articles 243(E) and 243(K) of the Constitution and Section 17 of the Rajasthan Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.
“The postponement has disrupted democratic functioning in more than 6,700 panchayats,” petitioners’ counsel P C Devanda said, arguing that the outgoing sarpanches cannot be appointed as administrators.
The court fixed the deadline after the advocate general failed to specify election dates, and after revising an earlier timeline that overlapped with board examinations. PTI AG RUK RUK
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