Kolkata: The wait for the municipal elections in Kolkata and Howrah is set to get longer as the Calcutta High Court has placed an interim stay on the release of any election notification. The court’s decision comes amid an ongoing legal dispute concerning the delimitation of wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), where the administration has proposed increasing the total number of wards from 144 to 209.
A vacation division bench comprising Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Arjun Roy Mukherjee issued the interim order, strictly restraining the State Election Commission from publishing any official notification regarding the upcoming civic polls. The division bench clarified that the matter of whether the ward reorganisation was conducted in accordance with proper legal procedures will be ultimately decided by a regular single bench of the High Court.
The legal battle commenced when CPI(M) leader and former KMC councillor Dipu Das filed a petition challenging the administration’s move to increase the civic seats. Initially, the matter was heard by the single bench of Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya. The single bench had directed both parties to file their respective affidavits but refrained from issuing an interim stay on the process. Following this, the petitioners escalated the matter and approached the division bench. Several political groups, including the Left and the Congress, had previously expressed serious concerns regarding the delimitation exercise.
A central legal question raised during the proceedings was whether the current administrator in charge could independently notify the State Election Commission about the ward reorganisation without a formal statement from the Municipal Commissioner. The division bench noted that since it was operating as a vacation bench, a comprehensive decision on the legality of the delimitation would be left to the single bench.
Anticipating legal hurdles, the State Election Commission had already issued a notice extending the deadline for the publication of the final voter list for the civic bodies. Under standard electoral guidelines, no names can be added to or removed from the voter list once the official election dates are notified. Consequently, the Election Commission has opted to delay the final electoral roll until the High Court grants formal clearance. With the court’s latest directive, the timeline for the Kolkata and Howrah municipal polls remains uncertain.