Bathinda: The Supreme Court has set aside municipal elections in 50 wards across Punjab’s Patiala and Moga districts over allegations of nomination obstruction, ordering fresh polls within six weeks under judicial monitoring.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana accepted the findings of a fact-finding commission led by retired Punjab and Haryana high court Judge Nirmaljit Kaur in Seema Sharma and others vs state of Punjab.The commission, appointed on March 24, 2025, in its report submitted on Nov 18, 2025, found widespread obstruction during the nomination process.The petitioners, drawn from national and state political parties, had alleged that they were stopped from filing nominations by assault, snatching and tearing of papers and intimidation during the Dec 21, 2024, municipal elections. They also alleged that the nomination process was not videographed despite high court directions.The order invalidates results in 28 wards of the Patiala municipal corporation, seven in Dharamkot municipal council and all 15 wards of Baghapurana municipal council. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Punjab govt, told the court the state did not object to accepting the recommendations.Advocate Harneet Singh Oberoi, who represented the petitioners, said the court also ordered safeguards for the re-election. These included the Punjab and Haryana high court Chief Justice appointing a retired high court judge as a monitoring committee within one week. The election schedule can be notified only after the committee is in place.Senior high court bar members will act as observers and all nomination, scrutiny, symbol allocation and voting procedures will be videographed.The SC further ordered that the state must submit ward-wise lists of all election staff and police officers ranked DSP and above to the committee. Complaints of interference will go to the committee and be referred to the high court Chief Justice for judicial action if substantiated. Election results will only be declared once the Chief Justice is satisfied the polls were free and fair.The SC said Punjab govt will bear all costs and provide secretarial, logistical, transport and security support.The court clarified that the directions arise from the peculiar facts of these cases and shall not constitute a precedent for future byelections. It also placed on record its appreciation of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s report.
