Allahabad High Court orders UP panchayat polls within three months despite pending OBC report

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The news

Prayagraj. On 14 October a bench of Justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad directed the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission to hold elections to Panchayati Raj institutions within three months, completing the reservation exercise within that period, with the schedule on record before the next listing. Petitioner Dashrath Yadav had sought a time-bound schedule before the district panchayats' term expires. The State had argued that gram pradhan and gram panchayat polls could not be held until its OBC Commission reports on reservation; that report is still pending. The SEC had earlier planned three-tier polls for April to July 2026 (LiveLaw, 30 April). Assembly elections are due early next year.

Prelims nuggets

Article 243E fixes a panchayat's term at five years and requires the election to be completed before that term expires.
Article 243K vests the superintendence, direction and control of panchayat elections in the State Election Commission; Article 243D(6) is an enabling provision for backward-class reservation.
The triple test (Vikas Kishanrao Gawali, 2021, building on K. Krishna Murthy, 2010): a dedicated commission's empirical inquiry, local-body-wise quotas on its findings, and total SC, ST and OBC reservation not above 50%.