Supreme Court defers Bengaluru municipal polls due to Karnataka SIR
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The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Karnataka State Election Commission to defer elections to the five municipal corporations in Bengaluru until December in view of the special intensive revision of voter rolls underway in the state, The Indian Express reported.
The court had earlier directed that the elections be held by June 30 before extending the deadline to August 31. It had also criticised delays in holding the civic polls, The Hindu reported.
Elections to the Greater Bengaluru Authority were last held in 2015. The tenure of the elected representatives ended in 2020.
The Karnataka government, the State Election Commission and the Greater Bengaluru Authority had sought more time to conduct the elections.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Greater Bengaluru Authority, told the court that the State Election Commission had sought the extension as conducting the polls before the completion of the revision exercise could leave many voters out of the electoral rolls, The Indian Express reported.
The Karnataka government also cited logistical challenges in conducting the polls. It told the court that the administrative machinery and field staff were engaged in the house-to-house revision exercise and could not simultaneously conduct the civic polls.
“Proceeding with elections on out-of-sync, unrevised rolls prior to the conclusion of the SIR would lead to dangerous anomalies...