By IANS,
New Delhi : The Supreme Court will take up for hearing Thursday a petition challenging the Uttar Pradesh government’s notification on reservations in 38 local agencies where elections are scheduled to be held in the coming weeks.
The apex court’s vacation bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice J.S. Khehar directed the matter be listed Thursday when counsel D.K. Garg mentioned it before the court Tuesday.
The petition sought a stay on the government’s May 23 notification identifying the municipal agencies whose chairpersons would be subject to reservation for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Classes and women.
The four-phase election process for these agencies would conclude July 8.
The petition also sought a stay on the state election commission’s May 25 notification on the poll schedule of the civic agencies.
Petitioner Rakesh Gautam, a resident of Aligarh, challenged the Allahabad High Court judgment of June 1 by which it dismissed his plea against the government’s notification as non-maintainable, saying the election commission had already set in motion the poll process.
While dismissing the petition, the high court said: “However, we leave it open to the state government and the state election commission to consider the desirability of taking appropriate action so that the polling to various local bodies, as already scheduled, is not affected.”
The high court said that the petitioner had a remedy under the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act and could move a plea be moved before the district judge.