New Delhi, 20 May 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended till 31 August the time for holding the long-pending elections for the Bengaluru civic body.

The tenure of the earlier elected body for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) expired on 10 September 2020, and since then, a government-appointed administrator has been taking care of its day-to-day affairs.

On 12 January, the apex court had asked the Karnataka government and the State election body to hold the polls for the Bengaluru civic body by 30 June.

On Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi extended the time till 31 August and made clear that no further extension would be granted.

The order was passed after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Karnataka government, referred to the shortage of manpower due to the Census work and the upcoming special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

He urged the bench to extend the time to conclude the polls by two to three months.

Singhvi said the budgetary allocation was also done, but there would be a shortage of manpower.

While extending the time, the bench observed, "You go and activate your machinery".

On 12 January, the top court had said that the final ward-wise reservation list shall be published by the state government by 20 February.

The order was passed on a plea of the Karnataka government, which has challenged the high court's December 2020 order that directed the State Election Commission to hold BBMP elections expeditiously after finalising the electoral rolls.

The top court is monitoring the compliance of its earlier orders regarding polls to the BBMP and the newly created municipal corporations within the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA).

In its December 2020 judgment, the high court upheld the constitutional validity of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Third Amendment Act, 2020, which increased the number of BBMP wards.

The high court had, however, "read down" the amendment, holding that it would not apply to elections that ought to have been held under Article 243 of the Constitution before the amendment came into effect.

On December 18, 2020, the top court stayed the high court order, and in 2022, it asked the state government to complete the process of delimitation of wards for BBMP and to notify the same within a period of eight weeks.

The Karnataka government earlier notified reservations for 369 wards across five newly carved municipal corporations in the Greater Bengaluru Area.

Unlike the previous civic body polls, which were held for 198 wards, the next elections will be held for 369 wards across five corporations, an increase of 171.