MP local body polls: SC allows OBC reservation

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday permitted reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCS) in the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh. The apex court, which had passed an order on May 10 and noted that no reservation for OBCS can be provisioned until the triple test formality is completed in all respects by the state government, permitted the state to notify the reservation pattern local body wise as delineated in the reports of the dedicated commission.

A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar passed the order on an application filed by the state seeking modification of the May 10 order and permitting the conduct of elections based on recently notified delimitation.

In the application, the state government had also urged the court to permit it to notify reservation for OBCS based on the recommendation of the OBC Commission in the second report of May 12 and for the Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes within four weeks.

We also permit the state of Madhya Pradesh to notify the reservation pattern local bodywise as delineated in the reports of the dedicated commission, to be adhered to by the State Election Commission. That be done within one week from today. The State Election Commission shall issue election programme in respect of concerned local bodies thereafter within one week, the bench, also comprising Justices A S Oka and C T Ravikumar, said in its order.

For the time being, we permit the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission to notify the election programme for the respective local bodies keeping in mind the delimitation notifications already issued by the state government as on this date, i.e., till today; and also the reports submitted by the dedicated Commission, referred to above, it said.