Jaipur, March 18 – The issue of panchayat and civic body elections in Rajasthan has once again come before the Rajasthan High Court, with former MLA Sanyam Lodha filing a contempt petition against the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC).
In his petition, Lodha alleges that both the government and the Commission are deliberately delaying the election process, which amounts to willful disobedience of the High Court’s directions.
He argues that the Commission's current voter list revision schedule makes it impossible to comply with the court-mandated deadline.
The petition points out that the final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on April 22, while the High Court has directed that the elections must be completed by April 15.
Lodha contends that this timeline clearly shows that the authorities are not adhering to the court's order and are undermining judicial authority.
Lodha, who has represented the Sirohi constituency in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly three times, had earlier issued a legal notice to the state government and the SEC through his counsel, Advocate Puneet Singhvi.
In the notice, he urged the Commission to revise the voter list schedule in line with the April 15 deadline and warned that failure to do so would compel him to initiate contempt proceedings.
On November 14, 2025, while deciding a batch of 439 petitions, the Rajasthan High Court had directed the state government to conduct panchayat and civic body elections across the state by April 15, 2026.
The court had also ordered that the delimitation process be completed by December 31, 2025.
Subsequently, during hearings on related petitions, the Supreme Court of India upheld the High Court's timeline and reiterated that elections in Rajasthan must be completed by April 15.
Lodha's petition argues that despite clear judicial directions from both the High Court and the Supreme Court, the authorities have failed to act, necessitating contempt action.