Karnataka High Court Directs Election Commission to Proceed with Gram Panchayat Polls

The High Court of Karnataka has directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to proceed with conducting elections to Gram Panchayats across the state. A Division Bench comprising Justice Anu Sivaraman and Justice T. P. Vivekananda issued the directive after the state government submitted that the long-pending exercises of ward delimitation and seat reservation had been successfully completed for all 5,864 Gram Panchayats in Karnataka. The development stems from a petition filed by the State Election Commission in late 2025, which highlighted that the five-year terms of over 5,900 Gram Panchayats were expiring between December 2025 and January 2026. The SEC argued that the lack of final reservation notifications from the state administration was preventing the schedule from being announced. During the hearing, Additional Advocate General Pratima Honnapur informed the bench that the required notification process had been finalized, rendering the SEC's petition effectively infructuous. Taking note of the government's submission, the High Court observed that the statutory responsibility now rests entirely with the State Election Commission to initiate the election process and release the formal schedule. Gram Panchayats across Karnataka have been functioning without elected representatives since their terms lapsed, leading to administrative delays in rural governance. The High Court's ruling paves the way for rural voters across the state to elect new local representatives, restoring grassroots democracy in Karnataka's villages.