SC Directs Maharashtra to Hold Local Body Polls; Results in Over-Quota Seats Subject to Final Verdict

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Maharashtra Government and its State Election Commission to conduct local body elections at the earliest making it clear that poll results of bodies where a 50 per cent ceiling on quota have been breached will depend on its verdict.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also said that as many as 27 pleas concerning OBC reservation in local bodies will be taken up for final hearing by a three-judge bench on January 21, 2026.

In May 2025, the bench had directed the Maharashtra Government and the state election commission (SEC) to conduct the long-pending elections within four months, and to grant OBC reservation based on the legal framework that existed prior to the Banthia Commission report.

At the outset, senior advocate Balbir Singh, appearing for the SEC, said that the 50 per cent ceiling on quota has been breached only in 40 municipal councils and 17 Nagar panchayats.

He said there are a total of 246 municipal councils and 42 Nagar panchayats where the poll process has begun and there are “only 40 municipal councils, out of 246, where reservation is exceeding 50 per cent and similarly, there are 17, out of 42 Nagar panchyats, where this ceiling is breached”.

Taking the statement into consideration, the bench said the SEC can proceed with the election but the results of those bodies, where 50 per cent quota ceiling is breached will be dependent on the final outcome of the case.

“In deference to the directions issued on the previous date, Balbir Singh, Senior Counsel representing the SEC, Maharashtra has submitted a brief note for our consideration. It emerges therefrom that there are a total of 246 municipal councils and 42 Nagar panchayats where the election process has already commenced; nominations have been filed and the voting is set to take place on December 2,” it noted.

It further noted that there are only 40 municipal councils out of the total 246 where the reservation is exceeding 50 per cent and similarly, there are 17 out of 42 Nagar panchayats where quota has exceeded 50 per cent.

The SEC said there are in total 29 municipal corporations, 32 zila parishads and 336 panchayat samitis where the election process has not commenced.

“Meanwhile, the elections of municipal councils and Nagar panchayats may take place as per the notified schedule. However, it is clarified that the result of the 40 municipal councils and 17 Nagar panchayats where the reservation breaches the 50 per cent limit, shall be subject to the final outcome of these proceedings,” it said.

As far as municipal corporations are concerned, the bench noted that only two such corporations have reservations exceeding 50 per cent.

“That being the case, we direct that the elections of the municipal corporations be also notified without any delay and the same shall be conducted at the earliest,” it said, adding “the outcome of those two municipal corporations where the reservation exceeds 50 per cent shall necessarily be subject to the outcome of these proceedings.”

In respect of 32 zila parishads’ and 336 panchayat samitis, it directed that wherever the reservation does not exceed the 50 per cent mark, elections be held in accordance with previous orders.

Earlier, the bench had pulled up the SEC for non-compliance of its order and directed it to hold local body polls, stalled since 2022, to be completed by January 31, 2026 without further extension.

Earlier on November 19, the bench had asked the state Government to consider deferring the process of nomination for local body elections till the issue of grant of 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Class (OBC) is adjudicated upon by it.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh argued that previous orders, including a July 2022 direction by a three-judge bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar, since retired, approving the Banthia Committee recommendations, had created confusion.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State Government, had said that state authorities acted under a “bona fide interpretation” of the court’s orders.

In December 2021, the top court stayed the quota, holding that it could only be implemented after fulfilling the triple-test requirement laid down in earlier judgments.

The triple test contains the establishment of a commission to study backwardness, and second, determination of the specific proportion of reservation based on the commission’s findings and third, ensuring that the total reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs does not exceed 50 per cent of the total seats.

The state had constituted the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission in March 2022 to determine empirical data for OBC reservation.

The Commission submitted its report in July 2022.

In May 2025, the bench directed Maharashtra to conduct the long-pending elections within four months, and to grant OBC reservation based on the legal framework that existed prior to the Banthia report.

A few weeks ago, the bench noted that this order had been misconstrued by authorities as permitting reservations beyond 50 per cent, and clarified that no such excess was allowed.