SC: Won't allow reservation to exceed 50% in Maha civic polls

NEW DELHI: A day before scrutiny of nomination papers for the Maharashtra civic body elections is scheduled to begin, Supreme Court on Monday said it would not permit total reservations for SC, ST and OBCs to exceed the 50% limit, and warned that it would stop the nomination process in those constituencies where quota breached the ceiling.Appearing for certain petitioners, senior advocate Vikas Singh said there are civic bodies in which the 27% reservation for OBCs took the total quota beyond the 50% ceiling in violation of SC's May 6 order, which had directed Election Commission to follow the OBC reservation specifications as existed before the Banthia Commission's report of July 2022.SC said since recommendations of the Banthia Commission have not yet been fully crystallised by the state govt, the elections to local bodies - 409 urban local bodies and over 28,000 rural local bodies - will be held as per the OBC reservation applicable to constituencies prior to July 2010.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Shekhar Naphade told a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi that the process of scrutiny of nomination papers commences from Tuesday and that it was not appropriate for the petitioners to move court at this late stage. "Do not exceed the 50% limit, we have not permitted this. We never allowed the reserved seats to exceed 50% of the total seats," the bench repeatedly told Mehta, who requested for adjournment.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.While allowing the short adjournment, the bench said it would stall the process for all civic bodies where that the total reserved seats was found to exceed 50%.