The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Maharashtra government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to go ahead with long-pending local body elections, but made it clear that the declaration of results for all bodies — including those where the 50% ceiling on total reservation has been exceeded — will remain subject to the court’s final judgment.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, sitting with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, recorded the SEC’s statement that the reservation limit had been breached only in 40 out of 246 municipal councils and 17 out of 42 nagar panchayats. Taking note of this, the Bench said the poll process may continue, but the outcome cannot be treated as final until the court decides the batch of petitions relating to OBC reservation.
The court also noted that elections can proceed in zila parishads, panchayat samitis, and nagar parishads where the ceiling issue does not arise. “Today we are making only a temporary arrangement, till matter is finally heard. On January 21, a three-judge bench can hear. There should not be any objection from either side,” the Chief Justice said.
The court said that 27 petitions concerning OBC quota in local bodies will be taken up for final hearing by a three-judge Bench on January 21, 2026.
This batch of matters has been pending since the Supreme Court’s December 2021 order which stayed OBC reservation in local bodies until the “triple-test” requirement was fulfilled. The test requires:
- A dedicated commission to collect empirical data on backwardness,
- Determination of the extent of reservation based on this data, and
- Ensuring the total quota for SCs, STs, and OBCs does not cross 50%.
Maharashtra constituted the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission in March 2022. The Commission submitted its report in July 2022, following which a three-judge Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar (since retired) had permitted implementation of its recommendations.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh told the court on Friday that these earlier directions had created “confusion,” with local authorities reading them as approval for reservations exceeding the 50% cap.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, maintained that authorities had acted under a bona fide interpretation of the court’s orders.
In May 2025, the present Bench had ordered Maharashtra to complete the long-delayed local body elections within four months and to apply OBC reservation strictly under the pre-Banthia legal framework. Recently, the Bench had to clarify that this order did not permit any exceeding of the 50% ceiling — a misreading that had prompted the SEC to seek further directions.
The Bench had previously pulled up the SEC for non-compliance, directing that stalled elections since 2022 must be concluded by January 31, 2026, without further extensions. On November 19, the court had also asked the state government to consider deferring nominations until the OBC reservation issue was resolved.
With Friday’s order, the election process can now proceed statewide, but the results of every local body will hinge on the constitutional questions set to be decided early next year.
