U.P. Mayors approach Supreme Court over local body poll issue

Now, the 14 Mayors have approached the court to allow them to continue in office till their successors are elected.

A view of the Supreme Court of India, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Supreme Court on January 27, 2023 allowed a group of 14 Mayors from Uttar Pradesh to intervene in a case concerning the holding of local body elections in the State.

The court had, on January 4, stayed an Allahabad High Court direction to the Uttar Pradesh government and the Election Commission to hold local body elections without reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The same order saw a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud give the Uttar Pradesh government’s Dedicated Backward Classes Commission time till March 31, 2023 to conduct a “contemporaneous rigorous empirical investigation”, in accordance with the triple-test conditions laid down by the Supreme Court, to identify backward classes who need political representation in the State.

The Bench had also, as an interim measure, adopted the High Court’s direction to the State to form three-member committees headed by District Magistrates in places where the tenures of the elected bodies had expired.

The tenures of office-bearers in several municipalities are expiring by the end of January.

Now, the 14 Mayors have approached the court to allow them to continue in office till their successors are elected.

The court listed the case for hearing on February 27.