Allahabad HC reverses UP government notification on OBC reservation

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ordered conduct of urban local body elections in UP without OBC reservation.

The high court quashed the notification issued by the UP government on December 5 for reservation of OBC in urban local body elections. The seats, other than SC/ST, would be treated as general.

The court said that OBC reservation could be done only on the Supreme Court mandated triple test system.

Hearing the petitions, the bench comprising Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Saurabh Srivastava had on December 12 restrained the State Election Commission (SEC) from issuing notification and directed the state government not to make the final order based on the draft order issued by a notification.

The petitions had challenged the notification issued by the state government on December 5 under Section 9-A(5)(3)(B) of the Municipalities Act, 1916, read with Rule 7 of the UP Municipalities (Reservation and Allotment of Seats and Offices) Rules, 1994.

The petitioners alleged that the entire exercise of reservation of seats in the municipalities is being carried out by the state government in "complete derogation and defiance" of the mandate of the Supreme Court in the case of Suresh Mahajan vs State of Madhya Pradesh.

The petitioners submitted that the Supreme Court clearly mandated the states and Union Territories and their respective Election Commissions that until the triple test formality is completed in all respects by the state government, no reservation for OBCs can be provided.

The court order has queered the pitch for the UP government on the reservation issue.

If the government goes ahead with the municipal polls, it will face the ire of OBCs, and opposition parties will drive mileage from it.

The government has the option of going to the Supreme Court and seeking further stay on the polls.

A senior official, when contacted, said that the law department would study the 87-page judgement and then a decision would be taken on the next step.

--IANS

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