The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Wednesday a fresh plea by the DMK, alleging that the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission had decided to grant quota to women and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates in local bodies elections on the basis of 1991 census instead of 2011 census.
A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde on Monday took note of the submissions of senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, that the state poll panel had decided to grant quota in local body elections based on 1991 Census instead of latest 2011 census as mandated under the law.
In its fresh plea, filed through lawyer Amit Anand Tiwari, the DMK has challenged the poll panel’s November 7 notification on grant of quota to women and SC/ST candidates in the upcoming local body polls.
The Supreme Court had on Friday put on hold the elections for the local bodies in nine new districts in the state, carved out of four existing ones, in order to comply with legal formalities such as delimitation and reservation in four months.
The top court, however, had said that the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission could proceed with the elections to all panchayats at village, intermediate and district levels, in the remaining 31 revenue districts of the state.
Accordingly, the SEC announced on Saturday that polls for rural local bodies across Tamil Nadu will be held in two phases on December 27 and 30, 2019 except in Kallakurichi, Tenkasi, Tirupattur, Ranipet, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tirunelveli, Vellore and Kancheepuram.
Earlier, the DMK chief had urged the SEC to declare elections for the local bodies after complying fully with the December 6 order of the Supreme Court. The party contended that the state government had been directed by the SC to to follow Rule 6 of Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Reservation of Seats and Rotation of Reserved Seats) Rules 1995 while conducting the local body elections.
Source: The News Minute