The Supreme Court on Thursday warned the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) of contempt action if it renotifies the election process to 367 local bodies, where it has already commenced, in order to provide reservation to OBCs.
The SEC, it said, "cannot and shall not" renotify the election programme, voicing displeasure over the "misreading" of its July 20 order. Any breach of its directives will invite contempt for the SEC and others concerned, the court said.
The Supreme Court had on July 20 accepted the recommendations of the Banthia commission providing 27 per cent OBC reservations in local body elections and directed that election for local bodies in the state be notified in the next two weeks.
It had, however, made clear the same day that the new reservation policy will not apply to the 367 local bodies where the election process had already begun.
The court had noted in its July 20 order that the counsel for the SEC had said the election programme in respect of 367 local bodies has already started and will be taken to its logical end.
The apex court had quashed the SEC notification providing for 27 per cent quotas for OBCs in local bodies in early 2021.
In December 2021, it ruled reservation for OBCs in local bodies will not be allowed unless the government fulfils the triple test laid down in the SC's 2010 order. The top court had ruled that until the triple test criteria is fulfilled, the OBC seats will be re-notified as general category seats.
The triple test required the state government to set up a dedicated commission to gather data on the backwardness of OBCs in every local body, to specify the proportion of reservation in each local body in light of commission's recommendations, and ensure that such reservation does not exceed 50% of the total seats reserved for SC/ST/OBC together.
In response to the SC order, the then MVA government had set up a commission led by former chief secretary Jayant Banthia and asked him to collate data as sought by the court.
After the commission submitted its report on July 7, the new Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government moved the court for permission to hold elections to local bodies introducing the OBC quota.
During the hearing on Thursday, a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said in terms of the last week's order, the SEC is obliged to complete the election process which had already been notified in respect of 367 local bodies.
The court's apprehension about deliberate postponement of elections to introduce quotas for OBCs even in local bodies where the poll process had commenced stemmed from senior advocate Shekhar Naphade's contention that polls to 92 municipal councils and four nagar panchayats were put off by the SEC on July 14 because of extraordinary rain.
These 92 municipal councils and four nagar panchayats figured in the list of 367 local bodies were the election process had already been set in motion.
The bench, also comprising Justices A S Oka and J B Pardiwala, observed the election programme commences from the date of first notification.
"Dates have been notified. The election programme has commenced. That we will not interdict. We had made it clear," the bench said, adding, "They can only change the date from date X to date Y."
There cannot be reservation for these 367 local bodies, the court asserted.
"This is not acceptable. You are trying to misread on your convenience, under maybe dictation of someone. You want us to issue contempt notice, we will do that," the bench warned the SEC's counsel.
"The State Election Commission cannot and shall not re-notify the election programme so as to provide reservation in respect of 367 local bodies referred to in the affidavit filed before this court on July 8, 2022," the bench said.
