JODHPUR, July 17 -- The Rajasthan high court on Thursday came down heavily on the State Election Commission (SEC) over prolonged delays in conducting elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies, and directed the state government and SEC to submit a complete schedule of the poll process before it on July 20. A division bench of acting chief justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and justice Sanjeet Purohit warned state election commissioner Rajeshwar Singh that he should be prepared to face contempt proceedings if the process continued to remain stalled despite repeated judicial directions. The bench also demanded a complete schedule for every stage of the local body election process, including submission of the OBC Commission report, ward reservation, issuance of the election notification and phase-wise polling dates. The observations came during the hearing of petitions alleging undue delay in holding local body elections. State election commissioner Rajeshwar Singh and the secretary-cum-advisor of the OBC Commission appeared through video conferencing, while advocate general Rajendra Prasad, representing the state government, reiterated its request for extending the court's earlier July 31 deadline for completing the elections. Questioning the repeated delays, the bench observed that timelines fixed earlier by the court had already been violated and noted that even the extended deadline now appeared difficult to meet. When the court cautioned that contempt proceedings could be initiated for non-compliance, Singh submitted that the Commission was fully prepared to conduct the elections but could not issue the notification until the State Government completed ward reservation through the prescribed lottery process. The election commissioner told the court that finalising ward reservations was the responsibility of the local self government department and the panchayati raj department. He said the Commission would be able to complete the elections within 90 days of receiving the reservation details from the state government. According to the Commission, Panchayati Raj elections would be conducted in four phases and urban local body elections in two phases. Village panchayat elections would require around 50 days, while municipal elections would take approximately 40 days. Nearly 14,000 gram panchayats and over 300 urban local bodies across Rajasthan have been awaiting elections for several months. The process was initially delayed due to the State Government's proposed "One State, One Election" initiative and later because of the pending OBC Commission report on political reservation. The bench noted that it had already extended the election deadline twice at the State Government's request but expressed dissatisfaction over the continued uncertainty, observing that there appeared to be little possibility of completing the elections by July 31. When informed that the OBC Commission planned to complete its survey by July 23 and submit its report by August 14 after analysing the data, the bench declined to accept the proposed timeline, stating that no further delay would be tolerated. As the advocate general repeatedly sought additional time to indicate a final election schedule, the court adjourned the matter to July 20 and directed the authorities to submit a comprehensive roadmap covering the OBC Commission report, ward reservation, election notification and phase-wise polling programme. The bench also directed all authorities involved in the election process to hold a joint meeting and finalise the timelines before the next hearing. It ordered the state election commissioner, the advocate general and all concerned government officials to remain present through video conferencing on July 20. During the hearing, the bench orally observed that if the authorities failed to present a definitive schedule, it would consider issuing appropriate directions under the supervision of a retired high court judge....