Adityanath govt moves SC against Allahabad HC order on OBC reservation in urban local body polls

The Uttar Pradesh government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order quashing its draft notification on the urban local body elections and directing the state to hold the polls without reservation for the Other Backward Classes.

The state government, in its appeal against the December 27 order, has said the high court cannot quash the December 5 draft notification which provided for reservation of seats in the urban body polls for the OBCs apart from those for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women.

The appeal, filed through advocate on record Ruchira Goel, said the OBCs are a constitutionally protected section and the high court erred in quashing the draft notification.

The Uttar Pradesh government had Wednesday appointed a five-member commission for going into the entire gamut of issues for providing reservation to the OBCs in urban local body polls.

The Lucknow bench of the high court had ordered that the state government should notify the polls "immediately" as the term of several municipalities would end by January 31, while annulling the December 5 draft notification.

The court had directed the state election commission to hold the elections by January 31 after transferring the OBC seats in the draft notification to the general category.