Supreme Court Set To Hear UP Government’s Plea On Local Body Polls With OBC Quota

The Supreme Court is set to hear the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s plea against an Allahabad High Court judgment regarding the Other backward Classes (OBC) quota in local body polls on Wednesday (4 January).

A bench comprising of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PY Narasimha has agreed to hear the plea pursuant to a mention by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, made on behalf of the UP government, on Monday (2 January).

“We’ll hear it the day after tomorrow,” CJI Chandrachud said.

The state is appealing against the 12 December order by the Allahabad High Court, which prohibited the conduct of Urban Local Body polls with provisions for OBC reservations.

The order quashed the 5 December notification by the State Election Commission which provided for 27 per cent reservations for OBCs.

The Court took notice that the decision did not fulfill the ‘Triple test’ formula set by the Supreme Court in a previous judgment. The Court further directed the state to conduct the polls ‘immediately’ by 31 January.

The Triple Test formula sets three conditions for setting reservations in Urban Local Bodies, including setting up a dedicated commission to study the “political backwardness” of communities.

The Uttar Pradesh government has contested that its decision fulfills the above criteria, and polls were previously conducted with reservations in 2017 and 2012.

The state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, had previously said that they would take the issue to the Supreme Court. His government is also under pressure from the opposition, and the polls are being considered a precursor to the General Elections in 2024.

The state had also moved to set up a commission to conduct a fresh study into the nature of the political backwardness of communities, in order to fulfill the Triple Test conditions. The exercise is however expected to be conducted only by June this year.

(This report will be updated with the latest updates on the case as we receive them.)