Tripura seeks two-week extension from SC over delayed Village Committee polls

The Tripura government has sought two week time from the Supreme Court to file its reply affidavit in a writ petition concerning the long-pending elections to the Village Committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). The petition, filed by Tipra Motha Party founder and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman, seeks judicial intervention over what he terms as a deliberate and unconstitutional delay in holding rural body elections in the tribal areas.

According to documents accessed by this newspaper, the counsel representing the State of Tripura informed the apex court that more time was required to obtain “complete instructions” from the government before filing the response. The matter, registered as W.P.(C) No. 786/2025 (Pradyot Deb Barman vs Union of India), is slated for hearing on November 3 before a Bench comprising the Chief Justice of India and Justice K. Vinod Chandran.

Expressing disappointment over the latest development, Debbarman said the government’s repeated attempts to delay the elections reflect an absence of political will to restore grassroots democracy in the TTAADC areas. “The advocate for the State of Tripura has once again sought more time to reply to the Supreme Court. This clearly exposes their lack of justification for withholding the Village Committee elections. Justice is being denied to the Tiprasa people, and I hope the Supreme Court will take a firm stand,” Debbarman wrote on social media.

He further pointed out that the last Village Committee elections were held nearly a decade ago and the continued deferment has effectively disenfranchised lakhs of tribal residents. The state government, meanwhile, has not filed any reply to date and has prayed for the matter to be listed after two weeks. No interim order currently operates in the case.