BBMP polls: HC adjourns case on ward reservation

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: On Wednesday, the high court deferred the hearing related to the municipal body’s elections till January 9, as the Supreme Court is likely going to hear the case this week.

K N Phaneendra, the counsel for the State Election Commission (SEC) informed the court that the Commission has approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to hold elections and that it is likely to come up for hearing on December 15.

Taking note of this development, the HC adjourned the case. An interlocutory application (IA) was filed by the government before the HC, seeking three months of time in order to issue notification on the ward reservation. The Urban Development Department (UDD) had sought an extension of time from the HC to comply with its order.

In the September 30 order, taking note of the several writ petitions filed against the ward reservations, the court quashed the ward reservation notification. It had ordered the government to issue a fresh notification before November 30 and conclude elections before December 31.

The IA filed by the UDD claimed that the Dr Justice K Bhaktavatsala Commission sought more time to collect data on the political backwardness of the Backward Classes and required three months time from November 30, 2022.

The government had earlier reserved 28 wards for SC, four for ST, and 81 seats for the OBCs.The BBMP is currently being run by government-appointed officers since September 2020. The opposition in the state has consistently accused the government of coming up with ways to dodge the BBMP elections. Karnataka Assembly elections are set to happen by May 2023.