Allahabad High Court flags UP panchayat poll delay, urges two-year planning

The Allahabad High Court questioned the delay in Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections during a PIL hearing. It said advance planning is essential to meet the Constitution's deadline for fresh polls.The Allahabad High Court has expressed concern over the delay in holding panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh and said the state government should, in future, begin preparations at least two years before the end of the tenure of elected local bodies. It said this would help ensure compliance with the Constitution.The Lucknow bench made the observations while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Sanjay Kumar Sharma. The court said panchayat elections must be completed within the five-year term mandated under the Constitution and that the process should begin well in advance to meet this requirement.A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla noted that although the state government had started the poll process in May 2025, the elections could not be held before the constitutional tenure of the panchayats ended on May 26, 2026. Seeking records from the state government, the court said it would examine the reasons for the delay and decide whether it was caused by circumstances beyond the government's control or by a failure of the authorities to discharge their constitutional duty to hold elections on time.The bench observed that Article 243-E provides for a five-year term for panchayats and requires fresh elections to be completed before that period ends. During the hearing, the court said it had examined certain electronic records related to the delay in the election process and directed that these records be produced again on the next date of hearing. It said it would scrutinise the material to find out why the elections could not be conducted despite the process having begun in May 2025.The matter will next be heard on August 11, with the court set to continue examining the reasons for the delay and whether the constitutional requirement of timely panchayat elections was not met. - EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 5, 2026 23:49 IST