The Calcutta High Court on Friday restrained the West Bengal State Election Commission from calling elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on the basis of the September delimitation notification that proposes to increase the number of civic wards from 144 to 209, and said the restraint will continue until the petition challenging the validity of the delimitation exercise is decided.

Source: Bar and Bench

A Division Bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Arjun Ray Mukherjee passed the order on an appeal by Dipu Das, a former ward councillor from the CPI(M) period between 2005 and 2010, modifying the single judge's earlier order that had refused to stay the delimitation exercise. The court restrained the State Election Commission from issuing a notification calling a KMC election on the basis of the amended Schedule II of the KMC Act till the disposal of WPA 31433 of 2026.

Source: Live Law

This is a major new development from the position reported earlier this week. On November 4, the same Division Bench had restrained the state from notifying KMC elections only until November 6 and reserved its order; Friday's order extends that restraint until the single judge finally adjudicates the challenge, so the civic elections now stand deferred with no new date set by the court.

Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the delimitation notification had been issued on the recommendation of Smita Pandey, who was appointed Administrator of the KMC after the elected Corporation ceased to function, and contended that an Administrator, as an employee of the Corporation, could not substitute for the elected Corporation's recommendation. The petitioners also alleged that the exercise amounted to gerrymandering — an allegation the court has not decided — and raised disparity in voter population across the redrawn wards.

Source: Live Law

The State, represented by Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra, opposed the plea, arguing that the state government was empowered to undertake delimitation even in the absence of a recommendation from an elected Corporation, that the Administrator had been vested with the Corporation's powers, and that the challenge had been brought at the last minute after the notification was issued in September. The delimitation notification was issued on September 11.

Source: Live Law

A single judge, Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, had on October 29 refused to stay the delimitation notification, prompting the appeal to the Division Bench. The Division Bench said its observations are tentative in nature so far as the final disposal of the writ petition is concerned, and the rest of the single judge's order was not interfered with.