In Brief
The Supreme Court held that the State Election Commission of Madhya Pradesh must immediately conduct overdue local body elections without further delay, despite ongoing delimitation exercises and incomplete OBC reservation procedures. The Court found that over 23,000 local bodies had been without elected representatives for more than two years, violating the constitutional 5-year term mandate under Articles 243-E and 243-U. While administrative processes like delimitation and triple test compliance are complex and time-consuming, they cannot override the fixed constitutional timeline for elections. The Court directed elections proceed on existing ward delimitations, treating undetermined OBC seats as General seats until triple test completion. This principle applies to all States and Union Territories, ensuring democratic governance is not interrupted by bureaucratic delays.
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