OBC Reservation: Take 92 Municipal council elections without OBC reservation, SC orders Maha EC

The Supreme Court has given major directions regarding OBC Reservation. The Supreme Court has clarified that the elections for 365 seats announced before the approval of OBC reservation will be held without OBC reservation. The Supreme Court said that no new notification can be issued for these elections. The Supreme Court has also said that if the State Election Commission does not follow these directions, it will be held in contempt of court.

The Banthia Commission has recommended 27 percent reservation for OBCs. While providing this reservation, there is a condition that the membership of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and OBCs should not exceed 50 percent. Accordingly, different seats have been reserved for OBCs in 27 municipalities of the state. Some seats have been reserved for OBCs by including them in the category of Backward Class of Citizens. The Supreme Court accepted the Banthia Commission report and approved the implementation of political reservation for OBCs in the state.

The State Election Commission had announced the elections for 92 municipal councils. When the elections to these municipal councils were announced, the Supreme Court was hearing about OBC reservation. The state government was trying to conduct the elections in these 92 municipal councils with OBC reservation. When the Supreme Court gave its verdict on OBC reservation, the election process in this regard had started. So now the Supreme Court has refused to implement OBC reservation there. The State Election Commission had announced on July 14 that the elections to these 92 municipal councils had been postponed.