Image is for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Delhi High Court on Monday (Dec 1, 2025) slammed the Union government for not holding board elections across the country for more than five years. The councils fall under the Ministry of Defence.
Realizing that India is a democratic country and hence the need to have democratically elected boards to fight cadres, the division of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela set up a multiple notification center to run boards with officials.
The bench said, “Special notifications could be issued only on special occasions like in the case of a military operation. She said the act of the government could be considered as misuse of its powers.”
Issuing notices to the Union government and the Director General of Defense Estates (DGDE) on the application of Sandeep Tanwar and Yogesh Kumar, the Court directed them to file a reply explaining the reasons for the delay in surveys and repeated issuance of Section 13 notices.
The case will be heard on March 11, 2026. The suit filed by Mr. Tanwar and Mr. Kumar, residents of Delhi and Agra cantonments, alleged that the government had not conducted surveys for more than a decade. They claimed that they were trying to change the composition of the boards of directors.
The counsel for the Center said the cantonment council polls were delayed as the government was considering steps to ensure uniformity in municipal laws and cantonments. A proposal to merge or accede the civic areas of some administrative offices to their adjacent municipal bodies was also considered.
At present there are about 60 Cantonment Boards spread over various states. These councils manage civic issues in the areas. The last polls took place in January 2015 and the terms of office of these members ended in 2020.
Published – 01 Dec 2025 21:25 IST
