Nagaland: SC stays order cancelling ULB polls in state

Guwahati: The order cancelling the general elections for the Urban Local Body (ULB) with a 33% women’s reservation was delayed by the Supreme Court (SC) on April 5.

Live Law India said that the development followed the filing of a contempt petition against the state administration before the supreme court.

According to the report, senior attorney Colin Gonsalves informed the Supreme Court that the Election Commission had cancelled the ULB polls in Nagaland with the Chief Minister’s approval.

Later, the state’s attorney informed SC that an application had been moved.

”So you including the Election Commission is in breach of the court’s order. We had said it would not be postponed,” the report quoted Justice Kaul as saying.

The bench further stated that any attempt to “tinker” with the ULB election would be in violation of the court’s judgement, saying that the order dated 14/3/2023 was “very plain.”

The action by the state government, according to Judge Kaul, is unacceptable.

It’s needed to be noted that the Nagaland Municipal Act 2011 was abolished by the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly during the just-completed budget session.

The House had remarked that the Act’s execution had always been “fraught with major controversy” since the public thought it went against the letter of Article 371-A.

According to, the ULB elections couldn’t take place until the NMA 2001 was repealed.

The state election commissioner subsequently cancelled the May 16 ULB polls.