The Bombay High Court on December 30 held a rare late-evening sitting at the Chief Justice’s residence to urgently address the issue of court staff being called for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election duty.

Passing an order around 8 pm, the Court restrained Municipal Commissioner and District Election Officer Bhushan Gagrani from acting on his December 29 letter, which had refused to exempt court staff and directed their deployment for civic election work.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe took suo motu cognisance of a December 22 communication that had been sent directly to subordinate court staff, asking them to report for election duty on December 30 between 3 pm and 5 pm.

The Bench also barred the BMC from issuing any further communications to High Court or subordinate court staff for election duty. It directed the Municipal Commissioner to file a personal affidavit explaining the authority under which he had ordered members of the district judiciary to report for election work.

The Court noted that the In-charge Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade had earlier written to the Collector (Mumbai City) and the District Election Officer seeking exemption for court staff, citing a 2008 decision of the Administrative Judges’ Committee and a 2009 general order of the High Court.

A similar request was made by the Registrar (Inspection-II) on December 26, along with a copy of the general order. Despite this, the Municipal Commissioner issued a letter on December 29 rejecting the exemption request.

The Bench underlined that under Article 235 of the Constitution, the High Court has complete control over subordinate courts and their staff. It also referred to constitutional provisions governing elections and the Representation of the People Act, noting that while various authorities can requisition staff for election duties, court staff do not fall within the categories listed under the law.

During the hearing, the BMC’s counsel sought to withdraw the December 29 communication. The Court, however, refused and insisted on a detailed personal affidavit from the Municipal Commissioner.

The Court has also sought affidavits from the State Election Commission, the Election Commission of India, and the State government.

The matter will be taken up next on January 5, 2026.

Additional Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan appeared for the State, while advocates Komal Punjabi and Joel Carlos represented the BMC. Advocate Sachindra Shetye appeared for the State Election Commission.