A State Election Commission cannot monopolise voter awareness, Supreme Court holds in Aruna Roy's case

2 November 2026

In Aruna Roy versus Union of India the Supreme Court has set aside the Rajasthan State Election Commission's refusal to let a civil society group run voter awareness programmes before local body elections.
The Bench held that the Commission cannot stop other organisations from running such programmes merely because it runs similar programmes of its own.
It said the Commission may act against corrupt practices but cannot treat voter awareness as its own monopoly, and directed it to reconsider the request within forty-eight hours.
The petitioner's group has run voter awareness work since 2004, including on the None of the Above option and against taking money for votes.
Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita had been imposed across Jaipur during the election period and were used to reject the applications.
The Court noted that such orders do not bar meetings or processions taken out with prior permission, provided the place, date and time are specified.
Rajasthan is holding its Panchayati Raj elections in four phases, with Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polling on 14 November and Sarpanch and Panch polling on 16 November.
The polls cover 41 Zila Parishads, 457 Panchayat Samitis and 14,403 Gram Panchayats, with more than 4.03 crore eligible voters.