The Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed the elections to the eight standing committees of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which were scheduled for October 1.
Justice B. Veerappa has passed the interim order on petitions filed by chairpersons of the existing standing committees for education and sports, ward-level public works, horticulture, social justice, town planning and improvement, appeals, staff and administrative reforms, and major public works.
Their contention is that they were elected to their respective standing committees on December 5, 2018 and have a right to continue in the office of the respective committees for a period of one year, till December 4, 2019, as per Section 11(5) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act.
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“The respondents are acting in haste to cut short the tenure of the petitioners as members of the standing committees solely on political considerations for the reason that none of the petitioners belong to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party,” it has been alleged in the petition filed by Imran Pasha and seven others councillors of the BBMP.
The government and the BBMP issued a notification on September 23 fixing October 1 as the date for the elections.