The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra Election Commission to notify local body elections in the State within four weeks. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh also directed that an endeavour shall be made by the state election commission to conclude the elections within four months. "In our concerned opinion, the constitutional mandate of grassroots democracy through periodical elections of the local bodies ought to be respected and ensured", the bench stated in the order.
However, the Court also granted liberty to the state election commission to seek its permission for an extension, in case they are not able to conclude the elections within the prescribed time. The top court also noted that the local body elections in the State had not been held for several years due to the pendency of several issues that arose with regard to OBC reservations. The Court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking directions to conduct local body elections in the State.
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It noted that a six-member expert committee led by JK Banthia had submitted its report on the issue of OBC reservations in the state. Subsequently, various disputes had arisen with respect to the inclusion and exclusion of OBCs over the nature and implications of backwardness.
The Court was informed by Senior Counsel Indira Jaising who appeared for the petitioners, that the Banthia-panel report had led to the de-reservation of 34,000 people in the state who had earlier been awarded the reservation. The Court also noted that prior to the Banthia-panel report, reservation had been provided to different categories of persons of the OBC communities based on which elections used to take place.
"The core issue in this revolves around reservation for the OBC community in the State of Maharashtra for the purpose of elections to all local bodies. There has been reservation provided to the different categories of OBC communities on the basis of which earlier the elections were held from time to time", the Court noted, in its order.
It also noted that the said report is now subject to challenge before the top court. However, it noted that, in the meanwhile, there is no reason as to why the elections to local bodies have not been held in the State.Accordingly, it directed that local body elections in the State be conducted based on the reservation laws that were in effect prior to the submission of the Banthia Commission report in July 2022. "Let us just pave the way for the election. First priority is for the elections", the Court stated.