The Supreme Court had earlier this month asked the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission to conduct pending local body polls in the State without any delay, and as per the seat allotment in place prior to the ongoing delimitation exercise.
The top court had noted that conducting such polls every five years is a constitutional obligation.
The Court had said that a hiatus with regard to elections is permitted only when local bodies are dissolved a little before the end of their tenure. In the State, however, polls are pending to over 23,000 local bodies, even as citizens are entitled to have newly-elected members in all bodies before their 5-year tenure ends, the Court had said.
It is inviolable that incumbents cannot continue beyond six months of their tenure, the May 10 judgment had underscored.
The judgment was passed in a writ petition challenging the validity of Section 10(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Municipal Act, 1956, Sections 12, 23 and 30 of the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Avam Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam, and Section 29 of the Madhya Pradesh Municipalities Act, as being arbitrary and usurping the powers and independence of the State Election Commission.
The judgement had also made it clear that the interim directions are for all States where local body polls may be pending.
The polls to these bodies were held up citing pendency of case before the top court regarding Madhya Pradesh government’s decision to reserve seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies.
The Supreme Court had in December 2021 stayed the State’s decision for not complying with the triple test laid out in Indra Sahwney while providing for such reservation.
The Bench in its May 10 judgment had reiterated that such exercise cannot be cited as a legitimate ground to stall polls and disrupt governance.
The top court had also directed the State Election Commission to re-notify the OBC-allocated seats for the general category in compliance with the triple test.
Source: Barandbench
