Supreme Court Directs Maharashtra to Hold Local Body Polls With Pre-Banthia OBC Quota in 4 Months

The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to notify local body elections within four weeks and complete them within four months.

The polls will proceed with OBC reservations as they existed prior to the July 2022 Banthia Commission report, which remains under legal challenge.

The court clarified the constitutional mandates for grassroots democracy and criticised bureaucrats running local bodies without electoral accountability.

Both the state and petitioners agreed that elections should take place, and issues around reservation criteria can be resolved later without delaying the democratic process.