Big relief for Yogi Adityanath govt, Supreme Court stays HC order on OBC quota in urban local body polls

New Delhi: In a big relief for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Supreme Court on Wednesday put a stay on the Allahabad High court order directing the state government to hold urban bodies elections by January 31 without reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha took note of the submissions made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, and directed that a panel appointed by the state government will have to decide the OBC quota-related issues for the local bodies poll by March 31, 2023.

The top court permitted the state government to appoint administrators to run the affairs of the local bodies after the expiry of the tenure of the elected representatives. It, however, said that the administrators will not be empowered to take major policy decisions.

Supreme Court stays Allahabad High Court’s order directing the Uttar Pradesh government to hold local urban bodies elections in the State by January without granting reservation to OBCs. pic.twitter.com/SzeCaTzdit — ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2023

The top court had earlier agreed to hear the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal challenging the high court order quashing its draft notification on urban local body elections and directing it to hold the polls without reservation for other backward classes. The Lucknow bench of the high court had ordered that the state government notify the polls "immediately" as the term of several municipalities would end by January 31, while annulling the December 5 draft notification.

The court had directed the state election commission to hold the elections by January 31 after transferring the OBC seats in the draft notification to the general category. The UP government, which challenged the High Court's order, told the Supreme Court that the OBC Commission has already been formed and will complete its task by March.

The high court's order came following a petition that had objected to the state government's move to issue a provisional list of reserved seats for mayors of 17 municipal corporations, chairpersons of 200 municipal councils and 545 nagar panchayats.

(With Agency Inputs)