Overview
- Disposing of a PIL by advocate Mandeep Chandel, a division bench of Justices Vivek Thakur and Romesh Verma directed elections for Panchayati Raj bodies and urban local bodies to be completed by April 30, 2026.
- The court instructed the State Election Commission and the government to finish all preparatory formalities by February 28, 2026.
- The five-year terms of 3,577 gram panchayats, 90 panchayat samitis and 11 zila parishads end on January 31, with 50 of 71 urban local bodies expiring on January 18, raising the prospect of interim administrators if polls slip.
- The state had sought a six-month delay citing monsoon damage exceeding ₹10,000 crore, blocked roads and the operation of the Disaster Management Act.
- The SEC cautioned that further postponement would collide with May census duties and the monsoon season, while Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu questioned the order's legal basis and said the government will study the judgment.