Agartala, Aug 25: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) over the prolonged delay in holding Village Committee elections under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Act, 1994.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice BR Gavai, along with Justice NV Anjaria, sought a response from the poll bodies after taking note of a plea highlighting that nearly 587 Village Committees—grassroots governance units in tribal areas—have remained defunct for more than four years.
The tenure of these committees, equivalent to gram panchayats in non-tribal regions, ended in March 2021. Despite this, elections have not been conducted, creating a governance vacuum in the Sixth Schedule areas.
Notably, the Tripura High Court in July 2022 had directed the state government and the SEC to complete the polls by November 2022. However, the order was never implemented, with authorities attributing the delay to logistical constraints, the pandemic, and law-and-order concerns.
The petitioner told the apex court that the inaction undermines the constitutional rights of tribal communities to elect their own local bodies.
