The State must expeditiously conduct municipal elections once electoral rolls are finalized.

The five petitioners approached the Gauhati High Court alleging that elections to the Silchar Municipal Corporation had not been conducted within the constitutionally and statutorily prescribed period.

The last elected body of the erstwhile Silchar Municipal Board was dissolved in April 2020, after which the municipal administration was managed by an Executive Officer and subsequently by a Commissioner, without an elected body.

The petitioners relied on Article 243U of the Constitution, Section 26 of the Assam Municipal Act, 1956, and Section 7 of the Assam Municipal Corporation Act, 2022, contending that timely municipal elections were mandatory.

The Assam State Election Commission explained that the elections had been delayed, inter alia, because of the Special Intensive Revision (“SIR”) exercise and revision of electoral rolls.

During the hearing, the Commission stated that the electoral-roll revision had been completed and the rolls published on 15 July 2026, leaving no apparent impediment to holding the elections.

Whether the State authorities were constitutionally and statutorily obligated to conduct elections to constitute the Silchar Municipal Corporation within the prescribed period.

Whether, after completion and publication of the revised electoral rolls, the respondents were required to take immediate steps to conduct the municipal elections.

The Court applied Article 243U of the Constitution of India, which requires every Municipality to continue for five years and mandates completion of elections before expiry of its term or within six months of its dissolution, subject to the constitutional proviso.

It applied Section 26 of the Assam Municipal Act, 1956, which similarly prescribes the five-year term of a Municipality and requires elections to be completed before expiry of the term or within six months of dissolution.

The Court further applied Section 7 of the Assam Municipal Corporation Act, 2022, under which the Corporation consists of elected Councillors, continues for five years from its first meeting, and must be reconstituted through elections before expiry of its term or within six months of dissolution; where elections cannot be held before expiry, the Corporation stands dissolved and its functions may be exercised by an Administrator or Board of Administrators appointed by the State Government.

The governing principle was that the constitutional and statutory mandate requiring elected local bodies must be complied with and cannot be indefinitely postponed.

The Court found no ambiguity in the requirement that local bodies be constituted through periodic elections.

Although the Election Commission had cited the SIR exercise and electoral-roll revision as reasons for the delay, it acknowledged that the revision had been completed and the electoral rolls published on 15 July 2026.

Consequently, the stated impediment to conducting elections no longer existed.

The State Election Commission also clarified that the State Government would need to make the necessary budgetary, administrative, and police arrangements for the election process.

In light of the constitutional mandate under Article 243U and the corresponding provisions of the Assam municipal laws, the Court directed the State respondents to proceed with the elections expeditiously.

The writ petition was disposed of with a direction to the State respondents to conduct the elections expeditiously and, preferably, within two months from 22 July 2026.