Uttarakhand High Court vacates stay on panchayat elections

The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday (June 27, 2025) vacated the stay on rural body elections in the State. It ordered the State government to respond to petitions alleging irregularities in the reservation roster for the polls.

A Bench of Chief Justice G. Narendar and Justice Alok Mahara vacated the stay on panchayat elections while hearing the petitions challenging the reservation roster.

The stay was announced on June 23, just two days after the State had announced the schedule for the polls, which were earlier slated for July 10 and 15. The results of the elections were scheduled to be announced on July 19.

Over a dozen pleas filed by residents of different districts alleged mismanagement in the allocation of reservation in block pramukh and district panchayat president seats. The petitioners claimed that several seats in the reservation roster, issued by the State, were under representation of the same class for a long time in violation of Article 243 and Supreme Court orders passed from time to time.

Responding to the petitioners, the State had informed the court that after the report of the National Commission for Backward Classes, it was necessary to declare the previous reservation roster as void and issue a fresh one for the current panchayat elections.

The Bench observed that the number of repetitions in the reservation roster, as pointed out by the petitioners, in comparison with the total seats is miniscule. It is also pointed out that after the delimitation exercise, certain new panchayats have been carved out.

The court directed the State Election Commission to release a fresh poll schedule.

The State government was asked to respond to the issues raised by the petitioners within three weeks. The case will now be heard on July 28.