Shock to Maharashtra government from SC on OBC reservation: Instructions to conduct Nagar Panchayat elections without reservation, already reserved seats will also be normal

On 3 September 2021, the state cabinet approved the proposal to change the draft ordinance to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the municipal elections of Maharashtra. Several petitions were filed against this in the Supreme Court.

In a major setback to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to give reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local elections. The court has also asked the Election Commission to convert the already reserved seats into general seats. The Supreme Court has given this decision in hearing the petitions, in which the proposal approved by the state cabinet on 3 September 2021 was challenged. In this resolution, the state cabinet approved changes in the draft ordinance to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the municipal elections in Maharashtra.

Hearing these petitions last week, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice C.T. Ravikumar had stayed the 27% OBC reservation in civic polls till further orders. After this, the state government had filed an intervention petition seeking cancellation or postponement of the Nagar Panchayat elections to be held on December 21 for three months, which the court rejected today and delivered its verdict. This means that the Nagar Panchayat elections in Maharashtra to be held on December 21 will be conducted according to the new order of the court.

Result to be declared in a day
The court has also said in its order that the results of the elections will have to be declared on the same day. The next hearing of the matter will now be held on January 17. Let us inform that on December 21, elections are to be held for 105 Nagar Panchayats and 2 Zilla Parishads in the state. Elections will now be held on these seats without OBC reservation.

In March, the court had banned some local bodies
In March this year, the Supreme Court had stayed OBC reservation in some local bodies in the state on the ground that concrete data was not available to justify the percentage of reservation. The top court had also said that the total reservation should not exceed 50 per cent. So far, OBCs have been getting 27 per cent reservation in elections to municipal bodies and district councils.

The government had given approval on the lines of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
Despite this, the Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had decided to implement OBC reservation through an ordinance on the lines of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, the State Law and Justice Department had termed the decision to fix the electoral quota for OBCs through an ordinance as legally unreasonable and advised the state government to first seek permission from the Supreme Court as the matter was sub-judice.