Odisha govt to issue fresh reservation notification for panchayat polls

The Odisha government told High court that it would withdraw a "faulty" reservation notification issued earlier

The Odisha government Wednesday informed the high court it would withdraw a reservation notification issued for the panchayat elections, realising that it was "faulty".

The court was hearing a petition challenging the October 1 notification for reservation of seats.

It had asked the State Election Commission (SEC) to submit an affidavit, detailing the reservation policy to be adopted for the elections, scheduled to be held early next year.

The government counsel informed the court that a fresh notification for reservation of seats will be issued next Monday and objections will be accepted till January 3, said Sukanta Dalei, the petitioner's advocate.

"After hearing the objections on January 5, the government will submit the final reservation list to the SEC on January 7", Dalei said.

A division bench, headed by Chief Justice S Muralidhar, is adjudicating a case filed by Birendra Das.

The petitioner had maintained that if October 1 was implemented then the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would completely lose their constitutional and statutory rights.

The government's notification was also contrary to the 73rd constitutional amendment of 1992, Das said.