High Court notice to Karnataka govt against splitting of Mahadevapura assembly constituency

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has ordered notice to the state government in a PIL challenging splitting of Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency between East City Corporation and South City Corporation. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha posted the petition to December 17 for further consideration.

The petitioners PS Harish and Dileep Kumar R, residents of Sarjapur Road, Bengaluru East taluk, have challenged the September 2, 2025 notification constituting five city corporations and implementing the zonal classification.

Pursuant to the enactment of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, the state government had issued a preliminary notification on July 19, 2025, notifying the proposed zonal classification, specifying the areas falling within each corporation and also invited objections. The petitioners claimed that in Mahadevapura assembly constituency, only a small portion was placed under Bengaluru South Corporation while a larger portion remains within Bengaluru East Corporation.

The petitioners submitted their objections on August 14 highlighting the divisions in Mahadevapura assembly constituency. According to the petitioners, such divisions give rise to serious electoral complications. They claimed that splitting villages, wards, and portions of a single ward between two corporations undermines the accuracy of voter rolls, risks disenfranchising legitimate voters and complicates the logistics of conducting free and fair elections. “Moreover, residents of a single Assembly Constituency are now subjected to multiple administrative and political structures, creating a representation crisis and weakening coherent political accountability,” the petition said.

Senior advocate DR Ravishankar, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the bifurcation of the Mahadevapura assembly constituency is arbitrary and in violation of section 26(3) of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act. He said that villages including Ambalipura, Harlur, Kailondrahalli, Kasavanahalli, KPCL Layout, Junnasandra, Doddakannelli were unilaterally divided between south and east city corporations despite submitting objections. He said that section 26(3) mandates that the state shall make every endeavour to ensure that an assembly constituency is not split across multiple corporations.

The petition also said that though section 26(3) uses the expression “best endeavour”, it imposes a statutory obligation to act reasonably, fairly and in fidelity to legislative intent. “..the arbitrary bifurcation of Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency between two Corporations defeats the object of the provision and undermines the legislative scheme. The action is further violative of Section 29 of the Act, which mandates preservation of integrity, contiguity, and rationality of Assembly Constituencies in the constitution of Corporations,” the petition said.