The state government has not got relief even from the Supreme Court regarding the elections of Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj and urban bodies. On Friday (February 13, 2026), the Supreme Court has clarified the situation regarding Panchayat elections. The Supreme Court has ordered that elections will have to be held before May 31 under all circumstances.
The Supreme Court said that elections to constitutional institutions cannot be postponed in the name of re-delimitation. The division bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi has given this decision. The state Congress government had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Himachal High Court had directed the state government to conduct Panchayati Raj elections in the state before April 30. The court had given this order after hearing the PIL. The state government had approached the Supreme Court against the decision of the High Court.
The state government had said in the petition filed in the Supreme Court that Himachal Pradesh has recently suffered losses due to heavy rains and disaster. Road work is still going on at many places. The government said that Disaster Management Act is in force in the state, hence it is not possible to hold elections at this time. The government had also argued that the Disaster Management Act is a law made by the Parliament, while the Panchayati Raj Act is of the state assembly. In such a situation, the law of Parliament has priority.
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