KMC Elections Put on Hold: Calcutta HC Stays Poll Call Over 209 Wards

The Calcutta High Court has barred the West Bengal State Election Commission from calling elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) until a challenge to the redrawing of its wards is decided, according to LiveLaw and Bar & Bench reports dated Friday, 6 November 2026. A Division Bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Arjun Ray Mukherjee allowed, in part, an appeal by former CPI(M) councillor Dipu Das against a single judge’s refusal to stay the delimitation, which raises KMC wards from 144 to 209.

No Poll Date on the 209-Ward Map

The restraint stops the State Election Commission from notifying KMC elections on the amended Schedule II of the KMC Act, which carries the new ward list. It lasts until the writ petition (WPA 31433 of 2026) is disposed of. The rest of the single judge’s order was left untouched, and the Bench said its observations were tentative. For Kolkata voters, that means no poll schedule on the new map for now. Polls to seven urban civic bodies, including KMC and Howrah, had been expected in the last week of December, IANS reported.

Why the Wards Were Challenged

The State notified the delimitation on 11 September. Das argues it rested on a recommendation from the KMC Administrator, Smita Pandey, and not from the elected Corporation, and that objections and requests for a public hearing were ignored. His counsel, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, asked in court whether an executive officer of the Corporation could be treated as the Corporation itself.

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Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra opposed the appeal, arguing that Das had not filed objections himself and could not show the Municipal Commissioner’s recommendation was invalid. He also relied on Article 243ZG of the Constitution, which bars courts from questioning laws on delimitation of municipal wards. Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya had declined to stay the notification on 29 October.

Single Judge Must Now Decide

The delimitation challenge goes back to the single judge for a final decision. The reports give no hearing date. Until that ruling, KMC polls stay on hold, and whether Kolkata votes by the end of the year depends on how quickly it comes. Earlier IPB coverage of the Calcutta High Court is on the Calcutta High Court tag page, and the Supreme Court’s referral of the TMC rebel MLAs case to the same court is here. More West Bengal reports are under the West Bengal tag.

Source: Based on reporting by LiveLaw, Bar & Bench and IANS via Punjab Kesari.

Image: Calcutta High Court building / Wikimedia Commons.