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Quota in Maha local body polls: Results in 57 seats depend on verdict, rules SC
The top court clarified that elections to more than 280 local bodies in Maharashtra will go on as scheduled but election to 57 seats, where the combined reservation of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes exceeds 50%, shall be subject to final orders to be passed by the court
The Supreme Court on Friday directed elections to more than 280 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats in Maharashtra to go on as scheduled on December 2 while making it clear that the election to 57 seats, where the combined reservation of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes exceeds 50%, shall be subject to final orders to be passed by the court.
At the same time, the court restrained the state election body from conducting elections to those Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad seats where the 50% threshold has been breached as the Maharashtra state election commission was not in a position to provide the exact number of such seats. Barring them, the court allowed the state panel to hold polls for the remaining seats.
The court passed the order in a batch of petitions which sought implementation of the court’s earlier orders directing polls to all local bodies in the state to be completed by January 31. A contempt petition filed by one Rahul Ramesh Wagh alleged that the state was violating the court’s triple test laid down in a 2021 judgment which required that total reservation should not exceed 50% across any seats in the local bodies.
Striking a balance between enforcement of its own orders and the need to make local governance institutions operational, the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi identified two categories of local bodies - where elections are notified and where the date of polls is yet not declared.
On December 2, 246 municipal councils and 42 Nagar Panchayats in the state will go to polls. Maharashtra state election commission (MSEC) counsel senior advocate Balbir Singh told the court that in 40 municipal councils and 17 Nagar Panchayats, total reservation exceeds the 50% mark.
For the first category of local bodies, the bench said, “The elections of 246 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats may take place as per the notified schedule. However, the result of 40 municipal councils and 17 nagar panchayats where reservation exceeds 50% shall be subject to final orders passed in these proceedings.”
The second category of local bodies involved 336 Panchayat Samitis, 32 ZIla Parishads and 29 Municipal Corporations where elections are yet to be notified. MSEC counsel informed the court that the exercise of identifying the seats where reservation exceeds 50% across these local bodies has not been done. However, with regard to municipal corporations, he stated the breach of 50% is limited to 2 corporations.
As regards the other local bodies in the second category, the bench held, “Wherever reservation is not exceeding 50% in 32 zila parishads and 336 panchayat samitis, let elections be held in terms of our earlier orders.”
On Singh’s statement, the court ordered elections to all 29 corporations while making them subject to the final outcome of the proceedings in the top court, which is yet to decide the determination of other backward classes (OBC) in the state based on a report given by the Banthia Commission. This report has been challenged in several petitions which the court agreed to take up on January 21 assigning the matter to a three-judge bench.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh who appeared for petitioner Wagh said that several local bodies in the state are lying vacant for years together. As the affairs at the local level are under state’s direct administration, he urged the court to ensure local bodies become functional at the earliest.
While the MSEC did not commit on a time schedule, it informed the bench, “The process of re-working the seats based on court’s order today will take time.” The court asserted, “Wherever reservation is not exceeding 50%, you are bound to hold elections.” While the petitioner’s lawyer requested the court to even set a timeline, the bench refrained from doing so, observing that it will “unnecessarily complicate” the situation.
Ahead of the January hearing, the court appointed advocates Siddharth Dharmadhikari for Maharashtra and Amol Karande representing petitioners as nodal counsels to compile all necessary documents by January 9.
The local body elections in Maharashtra have been held up as the Supreme Court in 2021 laid down a triple test for rolling out reservation for OBCs in these polls. This test required states to carry out a scientific study before rolling out OBC reservation, followed by determination of the quantum of reservation to be applied in each local body area, and ensure that the total reservation of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs does not exceed 50%.
As part of the triple test, the state set up the Banthia commission which conducted an empirical study and recommended 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies in 2022. The commission also recommended lowering the reservation for OBCs in tribal districts where tribals have more reservation (14-24%) so as to adhere to the 50% cap.
The petitions before the top court have largely challenged the report for giving over-representation to OBCs. However, a section of OBCs led by senior advocate Indira Jaising argued against the report for under-representing OBCs in the state. She said that the commission did not carry out an effective survey to come to this conclusion.
The bench on Friday termed this as a “contentious” issue as it admitted that they are yet to go through the report. In 2010, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in K Krishnamurthi held that election of OBCs to local bodies cannot exceed 50%. This became the guiding principle for the 2021 order to make it part of the triple test.
