E-Paper
Karnataka high court sets aside order on quota for women, OBC in BBMP polls
On Monday, A single judge bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar has directed the state government to redo the exercise of providing reservations to women by allocating seats in proportion to the percentage of women in these wards.
The Karnataka high court (HC) set aside a notification issued by the Basavaraj Bommai-led state government on ward-wise reservation for elections of now-243 wards in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), out of which 81 were reserved for backward classes and 120 reserved for women in scattered manner.
On Monday, A single judge bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar has directed the state government to redo the exercise of providing reservations to women by allocating seats in proportion to the percentage of women in these wards.
“The State Government is directed to redo the exercise of providing reservation (posts) to the women for elections to the councillors of BBMP by allocating seats in the descending order for wards having a greater percentage of the population of women,” according to the order.
The court is hearing multiple petitions against the ward-wise reservations for women and the backward classes in which several parties have contested the manner in which these lists were drawn up. Earlier, the HC had directed the state government to facilitate the conducting of elections by December 31. However, legal entanglements have added to uncertainty over the conduct of the election in the city, which remains without councillors for over two years.
The developments added to the uncertainty around the polls for the BBMP. The Bengaluru city corporation has been without an elected council since September 2020, and people aware of the developments indicate that none of the political parties wants to conduct the elections, HT reported.
With assembly elections barely a year away, the Bommai government has been accused by political parties of delaying the polls as it would have a bearing on Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) bid to return to power next year. With the recent flooding, growing complaints over the quality of roads and other public infrastructure, and widespread allegations of corruption and infighting within the government, the BJP appears not to take any chances of conducting the elections for Bengaluru city corporation, HT reported on Monday.
Further, the HC said that the state government should cooperate with the dedicated commission in furnishing the empirical data to help formulate a report that should be presented and published on or before November 30.
“The State Government to cooperate with the dedicated commission in furnishing the empirical data to formulate a report and submit the same to State Government for publication of final notification. The final notification providing reservation to SC/ST, Backward Classes and Women shall be published on or before 30.11.2022. Karnataka State Election Commission to complete the election process within 30 days from the date of publication of the final notification,” according to the order.
“They have accepted the report of Bhaktavatsala, but the court has said that this does not meet the criteria of the triple test as mandated by the Supreme Court. It does not primarily have empirical data. The SC says that at the local level, you must assess and identify political backward communities. Socially and educationally backward communities need not necessarily be politically backward,” said one advocate appearing on behalf of backward class petitioners, requesting not to be named.
Senior Congress leader and working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Ramaligna Reddy had earlier said that out of the 97 wards that come under the assembly constituencies of Congress and one Janata Dal (Secular) legislator, 76 have been reserved for women. And out of the 65 wards that are categorised as general, 45 were in the constituencies of the BJP MLAs.
Similarly, according to the draft notification of the state government, nearly half of the total 243 seats will be reserved for OBCs, SCs and STs. The breakup is as follows - 81 seats have been reserved for OBCs, while 28 have been reserved for SCs and four for STs. The remaining 130 seats will be occupied by general category candidates. Women will be taking up half of the total seats.
Petitioners who challenged the lists submitted that the ruling party had manipulated the reservation criteria that would leave the opposition at a disadvantage and the BJP benefitting from the same.
“In several assembly constituencies held by the opposition parties, more or less all the wards are reserved for women, and likewise in several assembly constituencies held by the ruling party, more or less there is no reservation provided for the women. Hence, the majority reservation of wards in constituencies held by the opposition parties is smacked with
arbitrariness and discrimination, and the women in constituencies held by the ruling party are deprived of representing the people of the said constituencies. The reservation of wards for women is confined to certain constituencies, and there is no proportionate reservation of wards in the constituencies, which establishes the intention of the ruling party is to gain an unfair advantage,” according to the submissions of the petitioners.
The court has directed the state government to complete the requirements to help conduct the elections.
The matters will be heard on November 30.
