The Uttar Pradesh government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court’s order asking it to proceed with urban local body elections without reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) since the government is yet to fulfill the triple test requirement laid down by the top court for such reservation. “While notifying the elections, the seats and offices of chairpersons, except those to be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, shall be notified as for general/open category,” a division bench of the Lucknow bench of the High Court said on Tuesday. The court was hearing a bunch of PILs alleging that the entire exercise of reservation of seats in the municipalities is being carried out by the state government in “complete derogation and defiance” of the mandate ordered by the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh government had appointed a five-member commission, headed by Justice Ram Avtar Singh (Retd), to go into the entire gamut of issues for providing reservation to OBCs in these polls. The HC order said that until the “triple test/conditions”, as mandated by SC, are completed in all respects by the state government, no reservation for Backward Class citizens shall be provided in the urban civic body polls. However, noting that the process may take time to complete, the HC directed that the elections be held immediately. The bench also said, “We understand that collection and collation of materials by the dedicated Commission is a humongous and time-taking task. However, the formation of elected municipal bodies through election cannot be delayed for the reason of constitutional mandate contained in Article 243-U of the Constitution.” The “triple test”, as laid down by the SC, requires the state to set up a panel to conduct an inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies within the state; to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned per local body in the light of recommendations of the commission, so as not to fall foul of overbreadth; and says that in any case such reservation shall not exceed an aggregate of 50% of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together.
