Instructions to Puducherry Government and Union Territory Election Commission to file their counter-affidavits
Instructions to Puducherry Government and Union Territory Election Commission to file their counter-affidavits
The Madras High Court on Friday directed the State Election Commission in Puducherry to maintain status quo with respect to holding elections to local bodies in the Union Territory for a period of six weeks and till then file counter-affidavits against a batch of cases , which were filed against him. To provide reservation for Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Tribes.
Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice S. Ananti met DMK MLA R. The interim order was passed following a writ petition filed by Siva, V. Velmurugan and others. Senior advocate P. Wilson argued that holding local body elections without reserving seats for OBCs and STs would violate the will of the people and the principle of inclusiveness.
He recalled that the Election Commission had initially quashed the election notification dated September 22, 2021, after writ petitions were filed questioning the reservation policy. Subsequently, a subsequent government notification issued in October 2021 was also challenged through writ petition, which was withdrawn with the liberty to approach the Supreme Court.
However, since the Supreme Court was of the view that the matter should be decided before the High Court first and hence the petitioners moved the present writ petitions.