The Calcutta High Court has ordered that the KMC elections cannot be called on the basis of the redrawn wards for now, restraining the West Bengal State Election Commission until a pending challenge to the increase of Kolkata Municipal Corporation wards from 144 to 209 is decided.
Kolkata: Sitting as a vacation bench, a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court has modified an earlier order that had declined interim relief and has restrained the West Bengal State Election Commission from proceeding with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections until a single judge finally decides a challenge to the State Government’s delimitation of municipal wards [Petitioners v. State of West Bengal & Ors. (case title awaited)].
Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Arjun Roy Mukherjee passed the order in an appeal against the single judge’s refusal to stay the election process.
What the Bench ordered
The Division Bench modified the single judge’s order and restrained the State Election Commission from calling the KMC elections until the single judge adjudicates the challenge to the delimitation exercise. The civic polls therefore stand deferred. The Court has not yet ruled on the validity of the delimitation or on the allegation of gerrymandering, which remain to be decided by the single judge.
How the dispute reached the Division Bench
A notification issued by the West Bengal Government on September 11 raised the number of KMC wards from 144 to 209 ahead of the civic polls. The petitioners challenged its legality, contending that the exercise was carried out without a valid recommendation from the elected Corporation. A single judge of the High Court refused interim relief, and the petitioners then appealed to the Division Bench.
The petitioners: an Administrator is not the Corporation
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya argued that the delimitation notification rested on the recommendation of Smita Pandey, who had been appointed Administrator of the KMC after the elected Corporation ceased to function. In his submission, the Administrator was only an employee of the Corporation, and her advice to the State could not be treated as a recommendation of the elected body.
The petitioners also alleged gerrymandering, saying that ward boundaries had been redrawn to give an electoral advantage to a particular political party, a practice they said the Supreme Court has held impermissible.
The State: powers vested in the Administrator
Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra opposed the plea. His argument was that the State Government is empowered to carry out delimitation even without a recommendation from the Corporation, and that the Administrator had been vested with the powers of the Corporation, which left the State competent to proceed in the absence of an elected council.
On timing, the State pointed out that the notification was issued in September and that the petitioners had approached the Court at the last minute.
Why the order matters
Courts are usually slow to interfere once an election process is near, since delay in local body polls also affects democratic governance at the grassroots. By holding back the KMC elections, the Division Bench has signalled that the question of whether an Administrator can stand in for an elected Corporation in recommending delimitation needs to be settled before votes are cast on the new boundaries.
The outcome will matter beyond Kolkata. If the single judge finds that delimitation requires a recommendation from an elected body, it could affect how State Governments redraw wards in cities run by administrators. If the State’s view prevails, the polls can proceed on 209 wards.
Case Title: Petitioners v. State of West Bengal & Ors. (case title and number awaited)
Bench: Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Arjun Roy Mukherjee, Calcutta High Court (Vacation Bench)
Date of Order: reported November 6, 2026 (to be verified)
Appearances: Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya for the petitioners; Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra for the State
