Rajasthan HC Issues Contempt Notices to SEC, Election Commissioner For Delay in Holding Panchayat, Civic Polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan has come under severe fire from the opposition Congress which has launched a state-wide campaign over the delay in holding the polls.

The Wire Staff

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan has come under severe fire from the opposition Congress which has launched a state-wide campaign over the delay in holding the polls.

rajasthan hc issues contempt notices to sec election commissioner for delay in holding panchayat civic polls

Representative image. Photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm/Unsplash

New Delhi: Questioning the delay in conducting Panchayati Raj and urban local body elections in Rajasthan despite a previous court order in this regard, the Rajasthan high court on Thursday (April 2) issued contempt notices to the State Election Commission (SEC) and Election Commissioner Rajeshwar Singh, reported The Hindu.

On November 14, 2025, the high court had directed the state government to hold these polls by April 15.

A division bench led by acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, questioned how the SEC had released a schedule for revision of voter list extending beyond the timeline fixed by the court. The court, which issued show cause notices, also asked for a detailed response from the Commission within four weeks.

The court issued the contempt notices while hearing a contempt petition filed by former MLA Sanyam Lodha. Earlier, the high court had given directions for completing the delimitation process by December 31, 2025, and holding elections.

Thereafter, the Supreme Court had also upheld the timeline and cleared the way for conducting the polls.

According to the SEC’s schedule, the final electoral rolls for local body elections will be published on April 22.

Punit Singhvi, the counsel for petitioner Lodha submitted in the court that this timeline had effectively ruled out the possibility of completing elections by April 15, the deadline that was earlier set by the court.

“For now, the Commission is supposed to explain why it announced the voter list review programme beyond the deadline fixed by the court,” said the court.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan has come under severe fire from the opposition Congress which has launched a state-wide campaign over the delay in holding the polls, terming it as an attack on democracy. The Congress has said that the BJP fears its defeat in the elections because of its “misgovernance” during the last two and a half years, reported The Hindu.

This article went live on April third, two thousand twenty six, at four minutes past four in the afternoon.

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