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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Maharashtra’s State Election Commission (SEC) to notify 27 per cent seats in local bodies, which were reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), as general category, in order to go ahead with the election process. Can go
The apex court had on December 6 stayed the local body elections in Maharashtra’s seats reserved for OBCs till further orders and made it clear that the election process for other seats would continue.
A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar, which was hearing an application filed by the Maharashtra government seeking modification of last week’s order, asked the SEC to issue fresh notification for 27 per cent seats within a week. instructed to do.
In other words, the SEC should immediately issue fresh notification for the 27 per cent seats reserved for OBCs as general category and initiate the election process for these seats as well as the remaining 73 per cent seats. In the concerned local body, the bench said.
The bench observed that it is not possible to accept the contention that without following the triple test, which is required to be followed before such reservation is made provision for the OBC category, the State Authority or the SEC would be required to conduct the OBC in any local may be allowed to notify seats for bodies.
The apex court had passed the order last week while hearing two petitions criticizing the provisions incorporated/amended through an ordinance, which seeks to provide equal access to backward class category of citizens across Maharashtra in the respective local bodies. Reservation is allowed up to 27 per cent.
In its order passed on Wednesday, the bench said there is no reason to modify the December 6 order in this regard.
However, it said that the hiatus cannot be continued indefinitely.
As ordered, we will follow the same route by directing the State Authority and the SEC to treat the notification issued for reservation for OBCs as non-permanent in every local body in which elections are already notified, and again Notify those seats for the general category so that the election of the remaining 73 percent seats can be carried forward as well as those seats on which the process is already going on.
It said the SEC should declare the results of both the elections on the same day as per the local body.
The apex court said that this direction will also apply to the by-elections of the local bodies concerned.
It said the SEC’s counsel wanted clarification as to whether these directions would apply to this election or should govern future elections as well.
We fail to understand this confusion in the minds of the State Election Commission. It said the three-judge judgment makes it clear that this rule should apply to all future elections and does not require further explanation.
It said that any petition pending before the High Court on the subject shall be transferred to the Apex Court and interim orders, if any, passed in those proceedings shall be deemed to have been amended as of today’s order.
The court, while disposing of Maharashtra’s application, said that this arrangement is subject to the outcome of the proceedings before it.
It posted the matter for hearing on January 17.
During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Maharashtra, submitted that elections to 73 per cent seats would still render some of those local bodies inactive, where OBCs should come through rotation.
He said Maharashtra has a large number of OBCs and if the court is of the view that the 27 per cent seats should remain on hold due to paucity of data, the bench may consider putting a stay on the entire election process.
Don’t make partial choices. You have allowed a partial stay. I am saying that there should be complete migration, there should be no election for six months. He said that the commission which we have appointed, we will work on it expeditiously.
The bench said that there are two options either to direct the SEC to notify 27 per cent of the seats which were reserved for OBCs as general category seats or not to hold elections to these seats for six months, As suggested by the State, and in the meantime the exercise of the Commission and the decision will come on the basis of that.
This is 27 percent of the constituencies across the state. It will not be represented. This is not acceptable, the bench said.
Rohatgi requested the bench to put on hold the entire election till March and list the matter in April.
While hearing the matter on December 6, the top court had observed that a similar issue had come up before it and a three-judge bench had given a verdict that the court had to conduct a triple test before making a provision for such reservation. was followed. OBC Category.
It was noted that this was a repetition of the interpretation of the Constitution Bench on the issue of quantum of reservation to be provided for OBCs.
In March this year, the apex court had said that reservation in favor of OBCs in local bodies in Maharashtra cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total number of seats reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs.
It referred to the triple condition enshrined in the 2010 Constitution Bench decision, which included setting up of a dedicated commission to conduct contemporary rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness of local bodies within the state.
Read also: SC stays Maharashtra’s elections to local bodies reserved for OBCs, says state ignored court norms
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