The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the suggestions of the Maharashtra government-appointed commission for granting OBC reservation in local body elections cannot be accommodated for areas where the election schedule has already been notified.
A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and JB Pardiwala said it will not stop the election process till it reaches its logical end and will intervene only where it has not started.
“Issuing the notification is just the beginning of the election. Dates can be changed but elections cannot be retrieved by state Election commission. Once the enrollment process starts we cannot interfere. There is a constitutional bar,” the bench said.
Initially, counsel for one of the parties sought an adjournment, which was opposed by Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of Maharashtra.
Mehta said the triple test has been complied with and the Backward Classes Commission has conducted extensive exercise. “In view of the letter circulated by the advocate on record for the petitioner, though the request for adjournment has been objected by the state, we adjourn the hearing till next Tuesday,” the bench said.
On May 4, the apex court directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) to notify the schedule of local body elections within two weeks.
The top court on March 3 said that it is “not possible” to allow any authority to act on the recommendation made in the interim report of the State Backward Classes Commission, which said that reservation of up to 27 per cent should be given to OBCs. could. Classes in Local Bodies (OBCs) in Maharashtra, subject to the condition that the total quota shall not exceed the limit of 50 per cent.
In December last year, the apex court had directed Maharashtra’s SEC to notify 27 per cent seats in local bodies as general seats, so that the election process can go ahead. On January 19, the top court directed the state government to examine its correctness to the Data Commission on OBCs and make recommendations on their representation in elections to local bodies.
The court had also asked the commission to submit an interim report to the authorities concerned within two weeks of receiving the information from the state government. In its application filed in the apex court, which is hearing petitions regarding OBC reservation in local bodies in Maharashtra, the state had said that in the light of the interim report, it has allowed future elections to be held with OBC reservation. Should be known
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