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Himachal Pradesh High Court Panchayat Reorganization Order: Manlog Badog merger with Darlaghat quashed
Shimla, March 10,
Expressing concern over the state undertaking large-scale reorganization of Panchayati Raj institutions when their five-year term has already expired and elections are required to be completed by May 31, 2026, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has quashed the Himachal Pradesh government’s decision to exclude Village Manlog Badog from Gram Panchayat Hanuman Badog and merge it with Gram Panchayat Darlaghat in Solan district.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma held that the move was “manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable and irrational,” while allowing a writ petition filed by the Nehru Yuva Club and Mahila Mandal of Village Manlog-Badog challenging the January 27, 2026 notification issued by the state government.
In its judgment delivered on March 10, the court also questioned why the state was undertaking extensive reorganization of Panchayats at a stage when elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions are constitutionally due.
“We fail to understand that when 5 years’ term of Panchayati Raj Institutions has already expired and respondents are bound by mandate of the Constitution… to complete election process latest by 31.05.2026, then why respondents are venturing in large scale reorganization and constitution of Wards/Panchayati Raj Institutions,” the Bench observed.
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The court warned that such exercises at a late stage may appear as delaying tactics and could lead to hurried decisions containing legal flaws that invite judicial scrutiny.
The petitioners had challenged the state’s decision to reorganize the Panchayat boundaries by excluding Village Manlog Badog from Gram Panchayat Hanuman Badog and including it in Gram Panchayat Darlaghat. They argued that residents of the village share close social, geographical and economic ties with Hanuman Badog and had opposed the proposed merger.
Examining the record, the court noted that Manlog Badog and Hanuman Badog are contiguous villages located about 2–3 km apart and connected by a 2.5 km Panchayat road. However, the state attempted to justify the reorganization by calculating the distance between the two villages through a longer route via Piplughat and Damlanaghati.
Rejecting this approach, the Bench remarked,”Measurement of the distance between the two villages in this manner is definitely unreasonable and irrational… like measuring the distance between Himachal Bhawan and Haryana Bhawan via Connaught Place or calculating distance between Shimla and Solan via Bilaspur.”
The court also pointed out that the population of Village Manlog Badog is around 280, while Gram Panchayat Hanuman Badog has about 1,500 residents and Darlaghat about 4,500.
“It is also unreasonable and irrational to add a village having a population of 280 to a Gram Panchayat having a population of 4500 by excluding it from Gram Panchayat Hanuman Badog,” the Bench observed.
Holding that the reorganization ignored key factors such as contiguity, convenience, population and geographical realities, the High Court set aside the January 27, 2026 notification to the extent it transferred Manlog Badog to Gram Panchayat Darlaghat.
The court also quashed the related delimitation notification issued on February 2, 2026 and directed the authorities to issue fresh notifications regarding the constitution and delimitation of the concerned Panchayats within five days.
The petition was disposed of with these directions.
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