Supreme Court cancels Punjab civic polls in 50 wards, orders monitored re-run

The Supreme Court has set aside local body elections across 50 municipal wards in Punjab, ordering fresh polls within six weeks under rigorous judicial oversight after an inquiry panel uncovered serious procedural abuses during the December 2024 contest.

The decision enforces high standards of electoral integrity across local bodies. Acting on findings submitted by an independent commission led by retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur, the court concluded that the electoral contest in Patiala and Moga districts had been severely compromised. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Punjab government, affirmed that the state had no objection to accepting the commission's recommendations, paving the way for a transparent re-run.

What happened in the affected wards

The court's intervention covers 28 municipal wards in Patiala district and 22 in Moga district, including Dharamkot and Baghapurana municipal councils. The judicial inquiry examined affidavits, official election logs, photographic evidence and video footage before concluding that several candidates were unlawfully hindered from entering the race.

Justice Kaur's report documented incidents where prospective candidates were physically stopped from reaching nomination centres, papers were snatched or destroyed, and candidates faced intimidation and arbitrary detention. In several contested areas, unopposed declarations were secured after rivals were blocked, while investigators also flagged instances of bogus voting and missing security camera footage. The court ruled that such practices struck at the foundation of fair representation and required a complete re-poll.

Safeguards established for the fresh polls

To guarantee that the replacement elections proceed smoothly, the Supreme Court directed the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to appoint a monitoring committee headed by a retired High Court judge within one week. The state election authorities cannot notify the poll schedule until that committee is in place.

The court laid down strict procedural checkpoints:

• Two to three senior advocates will serve as on-site observers.
• Nominations, scrutiny, symbol allotment and balloting must be recorded on video in their presence.
• Punjab authorities must furnish the committee with comprehensive deployment rosters of all officers assigned to duty, including police officers ranked deputy superintendent and above.
• Formal results cannot be declared until the High Court Chief Justice reviews the monitoring committee's final assessment and certifies that the process was genuinely fair.

Punjab final electoral rolls published

The judicial clean-up arrives as the state election machinery concluded a comprehensive verification drive across Punjab's wider electorate. Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra announced the publication of the final electoral rolls for all 117 Assembly constituencies following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR 2026).

The final register records 2,01,00,727 eligible voters, comprising 1,03,76,026 men, 97,24,195 women, and 506 third-gender electors. That represents a net decrease of roughly 13.60 lakh names—or 6.33 per cent—from the pre-revision tally of 2.14 crore on June 9, as booth-level officers systematically purged deceased individuals, duplicate registrations and permanently relocated electors during door-to-door verification.

The exercise also enrolled 7,97,263 new voters and expanded polling stations statewide from 24,453 to 25,332, strengthening institutional infrastructure ahead of coming statewide elections.