The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to urgently hear the Greater Bengaluru Authority’s (GBA) plea to postpone civic polls in Bengaluru from August 31 to December 31, citing logistical constraints due to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the GBA, submitted an oral mentioning before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, stating that conducting elections by August 31 would be "seemingly impossible" while the SIR exercise was underway. The case is likely to be listed for a detailed hearing on July 17.
Why Bengaluru civic polls face delay
The GBA’s application follows the court’s May 20 observations, where it accused the local body of employing "delaying tactics" to postpone the polls. The court had then extended the deadline to August 31, warning it would be the "last chance" for the GBA to hold the elections.
In its July 9 filing, the GBA highlighted that the SIR exercise had mobilized 8,872 booth-level officers, 938 supervisors, 28 election registration officers, and 75 assistant officers, among others. The process involves house-to-house enumeration, with Bengaluru alone accounting for over 1.03 crore voters across 40 lakh residences.
Timeline for electoral roll updates
The draft electoral roll is scheduled for publication on August 5. Electoral registration officers in Bengaluru will then process nearly one lakh claims for inclusion or exclusion by September 25, with the final roll expected on October 7.
The GBA’s application underscores the administrative challenge posed by overlapping SIR and election preparations, particularly due to frequent intra-city migration among voters.
