The Calcutta High Court has restrained the West Bengal State Election Commission from issuing an election notification for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on the basis of its revised 209-ward structure until a pending legal challenge to the delimitation exercise is decided.
The Division Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee passed the order on November 6, 2026, while hearing an appeal filed by former KMC councillor Dipu Das. The Bench partly modified an earlier order that had refused to stay the delimitation process.
Background
The dispute concerns a West Bengal Government notification issued on September 11, 2026, which increased the number of Kolkata municipal wards from 144 to 209 by amending Schedule II of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980.
Dipu Das challenged the exercise, questioning the authority of the Municipal Commissioner to recommend the changes when the elected municipal board was no longer in existence. The petitioner also raised concerns about differences in voter populations across the newly drawn wards.
A single judge, Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, had declined to stay the notification on October 29. Das subsequently approached the Division Bench.
Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, representing Das, argued that the Municipal Commissioner could not exercise powers belonging to an elected Corporation. He also questioned the speed of the legislative process and the circumstances in which the revised ward structure was prepared.
"He questioned whether a Municipal Commissioner, being an executive officer subordinate to the Corporation, could exercise powers equivalent to those of the elected municipal body. He argued that merely assigning administrative responsibilities to an appointed Administrator could not place that officer on the same footing as the Corporation itself."
Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra, appearing for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, opposed the appeal. He questioned its maintainability and argued that Das had not personally submitted objections to the proposed delimitation notifications. He also relied on Article 243ZG of the Constitution, which restricts judicial interference in municipal electoral delimitation matters.
After considering the rival submissions, the Division Bench allowed the appeal partly. It clarified that the earlier order would otherwise remain undisturbed, but the Election Commission could not call elections using the amended ward structure until the pending writ petition was decided.
"The Division Bench partly allowed Dipu Das's appeal and modified the single judge's earlier order. It restrained the West Bengal State Election Commission from issuing any notification for Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections under the amended Schedule II of the KMC Act until the pending writ petition, WPA 31433 of 2026, is finally decided."
The Bench further clarified that the remaining observations in the earlier order would continue to be treated as tentative for the final adjudication of the writ petition.
Accordingly, the State Election Commission has been restrained from calling Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections on the basis of the revised 209-ward delimitation until the pending challenge is decided.
