Rajasthan High Court’s division bench stayed the panchayat-body elections and administrator reinstatement

Jodhpur (Rajasthan Panchayat Chunav 2025): A division bench of the Rajasthan High Court stayed the order of the single bench dated August 18, 2025, which directed to conduct early elections in gram panchayats and urban bodies and reinstate the former sarpanches as administrators. A division bench of Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjit Purohit gave this verdict on the appeal of the state government.

No legal provision for appointing administrators –

The single bench, in its order on August 18, had directed the government to conduct elections soon in the panchayats whose term has ended and reinstate the petitioner former sarpanches as administrators. However, the state government challenged this order in the division bench and argued that there is no legal basis for retaining the former sarpanches as administrators.

Preparation for simultaneous elections –

The government stated in its appeal that due to COVID-19, the panchayat elections were held in three phases, due to which the tenure of different panchayats is ending at different times. To organize this, the government is preparing to conduct elections of all panchayats simultaneously. For this, former sarpanches were temporarily appointed as administrators.

Sarpanches removed on the basis of complaints –

However, some former sarpanches were removed on the basis of complaints received during their tenure. The government says that there was no legal harm by removing these sarpanches. The division bench stayed the order of the single bench after hearing the arguments of the government.This decision can prove to be important in further clarifying the process of panchayat and body elections in Rajasthan.