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SEC restrained for another day from declaring civic poll dates
The court gave the order after the state government requested for one more day to file its reply on a PIL challenging reservation of wards/seats in civic polls
LUCKNOW The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday restrained the State Election Commission (SEC) for one more day, till Wednesday, from announcing the dates of the urban local bodies’ (ULB) elections.
The court gave the order after the state government requested for one more day to file its reply on a PIL challenging reservation of wards/seats in civic polls.
A division bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Saurabh Srivastava on Tuesday directed the SEC not to announce dates for civic polls till Wednesday.
The court also directed the state government not to issue the final order for reservation of wards based on the draft order issued on December 5.
Sharad Pathak, a lawyer who appeared on behalf of the petitioner Vaibhav Pandey, stated that the court had restrained the State Election Commission from announcing dates of the urban local bodies’ election till Wednesday, when the next hearing is scheduled. The state government’s counsel opposed the petition.
Elections for urban local bodies are due in the state this month. However, the SEC can issue notification (announcement of dates) for polls only after the court’s order.
