The Madras High Court on Thursday extended till November 11 an interim order passed by it on October 10 directing the Puducherry Government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to keep in abeyance all further proceedings related to the local body polls proposed to be held in the Union Territory without reserving wards for candidates from the Backward Classes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu extended the interim orders after senior counsel Vijay Narayan, representing the government, sought time to file a counter affidavit to a batch of three cases which challenged the Government’s decision to hold civic polls by reserving wards only for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Advocate V. Chandrasekaran, representing the SEC, filed a counter affidavit on Thursday, and claimed that the commission had only limited points to answer in the batch of cases. He said the Puducherry government was the sole authority to notify reservation of wards.
