The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the already notified panchayat elections in Jharkhand and dismissed the petition seeking directions that the rural local body elections in the state should be conducted only after determining the extent of reservation for the other backward classes (OBC) in compliance with the mandatory procedure of the triple test laid down by the constitution bench of the apex court.
Rahul Kumar, counsel of the petitioner AJSU Party parliamentarian CP Chaudhary, said the three-member bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar disposed the petition on the ground of constitutionality raised by the state.
The petitioner had demanded that the government conduct polls only after determining the extent of reservation for the OBCs in compliance with the mandatory procedure of the triple test.
“The Jharkhand government counsel informed the court that the elections have already been notified. They also raised the issue of constitutionality involved, arguing that polls can’t be postponed beyond six months. The court disposed our petition with direction to the government that committee be formed and OBC quota be incorporated in future polls,” said counsel Rahul Kumar.
The state election commission on April 9 announced the four-phase polls for the three-tier rural local bodies from May 14 to May 27. Counting of votes would be done on May 30. The polls were due in January 2021 but were postponed twice due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The polls, however, would be held without any reservation for the OBCs and as a result 9,470 seats, reserved under the category earlier of the total 63,701, are now up for grabs across the state in open category.
{{/usCountry}}The polls, however, would be held without any reservation for the OBCs and as a result 9,470 seats, reserved under the category earlier of the total 63,701, are now up for grabs across the state in open category.
{{/usCountry}}OBC reservation in local body polls was as a major issue during the budget session during which the state government had underlined that any further delay in polls would affect funds allocation for the local bodies from the Centre.
Speaking over the issue in the House, chief minister Hemant Soren had underlined that complying with triple test, which stipulates a dedicated commission to prepare a district-wise enumeration of OBCs for the purpose of reservations in panchayat polls, would take time, which will lead to stoppage of funds to the local bodies as per the Finance Commission recommendations.