[Maharashtra local body elections] Supreme Court warns poll body of contempt of court if it renotifies polls to include OBC quota

The Supreme Court on Tuesday made clear that it would consider initiating contempt of court proceedings against the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) if it re-notifies local body polls to 367 seats in order to enable reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in some of those seats [Rahul Ramesh Wagh and ors vs State of Maharashtra]..A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, AS Oka and JB Pardiwala stated so after being informed by counsel for the petitioners that the SEC had issued a fresh election program. "We had repeatedly made clear on that front [that dates for polls where process has commenced cannot be changed] ... What kind of behaviour is this? The State Election Commission has changed counsel and changed stand which is not acceptable mid-hearing. This is not acceptable. You want us to issue contempt?" Justice Khanwilkar orally warned. The order stated that if such an action is carried out, it will invite contempt of court proceedings. "The State Election Commission in terms of earlier order is obliged to complete polls to 367 local bodies. This position has been restated multiple times. Only task of the State Election Commission was to re-align the dates of polls already notified subject to exigencies. The State Election Commission cannot re-notify polls afresh to provide reservations to those 367 local bodies. Otherwise, it will invite action of contempt of court," the order said..The top court had, in May this year, asked the SEC to notify the pending local body polls in two weeks, and as per the seat allotment in place prior to the ongoing delimitation exerciseOn July 20, the Supreme Court had allowed OBC reservation though it had clarified the same would not apply to the 367 seats to which polls had already been notified. .In December 2021, the top court had struck down the State government’s earlier efforts to introduce 27 per cent OBC reservation in zilla parishads and panchayat samitis, saying it was violative of the 50 per cent cap laid down in its Indira Sawhney v. Union of India judgment.The Court had also ordered SEC to renotify the 27 percent OBC seats as general category seats and to hold polls simultaneously for all seats."The SEC must issue fresh notification for the remaining 27 percent seats reserved for OBC as general category and commence election process for them along with remaining 73 percent which is on its way. SEC must declare results of both polls simultaneously," the Court had directed.The State was given liberty to conduct the study and based on data of the report, allow for reservations for OBCs in the local body elections.In light of this, the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission prepared an interim report with a recommendation to include reservations of 27 per cent for the OBCs. Thereafter, the Maharashtra government sought to recall the Supreme Court order to re-notify 27 per cent OBC seats as general seats.As the interim report submitted by the SEC was not prepared in compliance with the triple-test, the Supreme Court, in March, directed the SEC to notify the election process in those local bodies where elections are overdue without any delay, in compliance with the restraint against effecting OBC reservations.The Court also stressed that process should be before the statutory period of six months from the date of expiry of the normal term of the local body.