The Supreme Court has set aside the elections in 50 municipal wards in Punjab and directed that fresh polls be conducted under a monitored election process.
The affected wards comprise 28 wards of the Patiala Municipal Corporation and 22 wards of the Baghapurana and Dharamkot municipal councils in Moga district.
Editorial Insight
Key Highlights
Important points readers should notice.
Fresh elections ordered in 50 Punjab municipal wards.
28 wards are in the Patiala Municipal Corporation. 22 wards are in the Baghapurana and Dharamkot municipal councils in Moga district.
The Supreme Court order was passed on September 28, 2026 and made available on October 7.
The decision followed a fact-finding inquiry headed by Justice Nirmaljit Kaur (Retd.).
A monitoring committee headed by a retired High Court judge will oversee the fresh election process.
Nomination filing, scrutiny, symbol allocation and polling will be videographed.
The order was passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana on September 28, 2026. The order was officially made available on October 7.
The dispute relates to the December 2024 municipal elections. Petitioners had alleged that prospective candidates were prevented from submitting nomination papers and had raised other objections concerning the nomination process. These allegations were examined through a fact-finding commission headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Nirmaljit Kaur.
The Supreme Court accepted the findings of the commission and ordered the elections in the affected wards to be set aside, paving the way for fresh polling.
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
The order places the fresh municipal election process under detailed judicial monitoring. For voters and candidates in the affected wards, the decision means that fresh polling will take place with additional monitoring of nominations, scrutiny, symbol allocation and voting. The case also highlights the role of judicial review in resolving disputes concerning the conduct of local elections.
The court has directed the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to constitute, within one week, a monitoring committee headed by a retired judge of that High Court. The fresh election schedule will be notified only after the committee is constituted.
The court has also directed that the filing and scrutiny of nomination papers, allocation of election symbols and polling be videographed in the presence of observers nominated by the High Court.
The Punjab Government has been directed to provide details of officials deployed for election duty and police officers of DSP rank and above. The government will also bear the expenses of the monitoring committee and observers.
The re-election process must be completed within six weeks. The results will be declared only after the monitoring mechanism reports on the conduct of the polls and the Chief Justice of the High Court is satisfied that the election was conducted in a free and fair manner.
The Supreme Court has clarified that its directions are based on the particular circumstances of these cases and will not constitute a precedent for future by-elections.
