Allahabad HC Quashes UP Govt Notification, Tells It To Hold Municipal Polls With No OBC Reservation

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday quashed the Uttar Pradesh government's draft notification on urban local body elections and ordered it to hold the polls without reservation for the Other Backward Classes.

The Lucknow bench of the high court ordered that the state government should notify the polls "immediately" as the term of several municipalities would end by January 31.

But, as opposition parties blamed the state's BJP government for the "anti-OBC" development, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the elections will be announced only after finding a way out to provide the OBC reservation. If necessary, the state government will approach the Supreme Court, he said.

Justice D K Upadhya and Justice Saurav Lavania annulled the government's December 5 draft that provided reservation of seats in the urban body polls for the OBC apart from those for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women.

The court 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 HC order comes on the back of pleas challenging the preparation of the OBC reservation draft without following the triple test formula prescribed by the Supreme Court.

The "triple test" requires setting up a commission to hold a "rigorous empirical inquiry" into the nature of the "backwardness" in the context of the local bodies, specifying the proportion of reservation based on the commission's recommendations, and not exceeding the overall 50 per cent quota limit.

Soon after the verdict, Adityanath said the state government will set up a commission on urban body elections and provide reservation to the OBC on the basis of the triple test.

"Only after this, the urban body general elections will be conducted. If necessary, the state government will also appeal to the Supreme Court after considering all legal aspects regarding the decision of the High Court", an official spokesperson said, quoting the CM.

The high court held the triple test conditions formulated by the Supreme Court 11 years ago as mandatory.

"Until the triple test is completed in all respects by the state government, no reservation for Backward Class of citizens shall be provided," the order said.

It said the term of the municipalities in the state has either ended or shall end by January 31, 2023.

Since the process of meeting the triple test is "arduous and is likely to take considerable time", it directed that the state government and the state election Commission notify the elections "immediately" without the OBC quota.

On the reason for immediate notification of the elections, it cited Article 243U of the Constitution on holding elections before the term of a municipality expires.

"Thus to fortify the democratic character of governance of society, it is essential that the elections are held at the earliest which cannot wait," the order said.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned the "anti-reservation BJP" for "showing sympathy" on OBC reservation in the urban body elections.

"Today, the BJP has taken away the reservation rights of the backward people, tomorrow the BJP will also take away the reservation given by Babasaheb (Ambedkar) to Dalits," he tweeted.

He appealed to the Backward and Dalits to support the SP in the "fight to save reservation."

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati tweeted that the HC decision "revealed the anti-OBC and anti-reservation thinking and mentality of the BJP and its government".

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, however, said there would not be any compromise on the rights of the OBC.

In its order, the HC also set aside the state government's December 12 notification that mentioned appointing a committee to administer municipalities whose terms were ending by January 31.

Instead, the court said the affairs of such municipal bodies shall be conducted by three-member committees headed by district magistrates, till the elected municipalities come into being.

The committees will only carry out day-to-day functions and not take any major policy decision, the court added.

Earlier this month, the state government issued a provisional list of reserved seats for mayors of 17 municipal corporations, chairpersons of 200 municipal councils and 545 nagar panchayats for the three-tier urban elections.

It had sought suggestions and objections to this draft within seven days.

According to the draft notification, four mayoral seats -- Aligarh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Meerut and Prayagraj -- were reserved for OBC candidates. Of these, the mayor's posts in Aligarh and Mathura-Vrindavan were reserved for OBC women.

In addition, 54 chairpersons' seats in the 200 municipal councils were reserved for OBCs, including 18 for OBC women.

Among the chairpersons' seats in 545 nagar panchayats, 147 seats were reserved for OBC candidates, including 49 for OBC women.

SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav termed Tuesday's development unfortunate.

Apna Dal (S) working president Ashish Patel, who is a minister in the BJP-led government, said elections without the OBC reservation were "not fair from any point of view".

He said the judgment was being studied. "If needed, the party will appeal in the Supreme Court for the rights of the Backward," he told PTI.