The Karnataka government has formed a committee to finalise ward-wise reservations for elections to urban local bodies whose terms have ended, telling the High Court that the process has now begun. The development covers municipal corporations, city municipalities, town municipalities and town panchayats across the state.
The government disclosed the committee’s formation during a hearing before a division bench led by Justice Anu Sivaraman. The bench was hearing a public interest petition filed by the Karnataka State Election Commission, along with other writ petitions, seeking directions for the state to urgently issue the final notification on ward-wise reservations.
Additional Advocate General Pratima Honnapur, appearing for the state government, submitted a memorandum to the court. The memorandum stated that the committee was constituted under the chairpersonship of the secretary of the Urban Development Department and that a notification regarding its formation was issued on October 3, 2026.
The committee includes the secretaries of the Social Welfare, Law, Backward Classes Welfare and Minority Welfare departments, along with the Director of Municipal Administration. Its composition brings together the departments responsible for social reservation policy, legal coordination and urban local-body administration.
The government told the court that the process of determining ward-wise reservations had commenced and requested additional time for the court to record the development. The Election Commission, represented by advocate Vaishali Hegde, opposed the request for more time during the hearing.
The court ultimately recorded the government’s submission and adjourned the proceedings to December 15. The next hearing will provide the immediate judicial checkpoint for the state’s progress on the reservation exercise and the pending election process.
The state government had earlier issued a notification on September 16, 2026, concerning the determination of ward-wise reservations for urban local bodies. The latest committee notification of October 3 marks a further administrative step in that process, but the final reservation notification has not yet been issued, according to the submissions recorded in court.
Ward reservations determine which constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes and women in local elections. Their finalisation is therefore a necessary administrative stage before the election process can move forward across the affected urban local bodies. The High Court is scheduled to take up the matter again on December 15.
