Supreme Court agrees to urgently hear Greater Bengaluru Authority’s plea to postpone civic polls due to SIR

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Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription Updated - July 14, 2026 11:41 am IST - NEW DELHI Booth Level Officers (BLOs) hand over an Enumeration Form to residents of Vasanth Nagar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)–2026 drive camp in Bengaluru on July 13, 2026. | Photo Credit: Allen Egenuse J The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) agreed to an oral plea by the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to urgently list its application seeking an extension of the deadline for the conduct of elections to 369 wards across five city corporations in Bengaluru from August 31 to December 31, citing “severe logistical challenges” due to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Karnataka. Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, in an oral mentioning, said the elections were due on August 31, and it would be “seemingly impossible” to prepare for the polls while the massive SIR exercise was on. The case may be listed on July 17 for a detailed hearing and orders. Also Read | If enumeration form not submitted, name will not figure in draft electoral rolls, says official in Karnataka Application filed by the Chief Commissioner of the GBA follows stringent observations made by the court in a May 20 hearing, accusing the local body of even employing “delaying tactics” to postpone civic polls in Bengaluru. The time limit for the civic polls had earlier been June 30. The court, on May 20, had said this would be GBA’s “last chance”, and specifically barred further extensions of time for the conduct of the elections. In its applications filed on July 9, the GBA said the whole administrative machinery and human resources of the five city corporations were fully engaged in the SIR exercise.