Nagpur : The Nagpur Bench of the High Court has directed the State Election Commissioner to finalize the election schedule for 315 Gram Panchayats in Wardha district within the next 30 days. The directive came following a writ petition filed by the Wardha District Sarpanch Association, citing the urgent need for elections after the expiry of the current Gram Panchayat tenures.
The petition highlighted that due to the expired terms of these Panchayats, developmental activities in rural areas had come to a halt. The absence of elected representatives has hindered grievance redressal and stalled several local governance functions.
Gold Rate
11 April 2025
Court Observations
After hearing arguments from both sides, the High Court noted that there was no dispute regarding the expiry of the 315 Panchayat terms. Therefore, holding fresh elections was imperative. However, the court also emphasized that reservations for the position of Sarpanch must be finalized before elections can be announced.
This reservation process is to be carried out across the entire state, as per a government notification issued on March 5, 2025. Each district collector has been tasked with finalizing reservations for their respective Panchayats.
During the hearing, the government counsel informed the court that the Wardha District Collector would complete the reservation process by April 25, 2025, and submit the details to the Election Commission.
Next Steps by Election Commission
Representing the State Election Commissioner, Advocate Kukde assured the court that once the reservation lists are received from the respective collectors, the election schedule would be prepared and published within 30 days.
He added that although the Wardha Collector is expected to finalize the reservations in 20 days, the elections are planned to be conducted simultaneously across the state, necessitating reservation finalization in all districts prior to any announcement.
