The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to inform the timeline within which it would complete delimitation of wards and reservation of seats for holding elections to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Justice B.V. Nagarathna issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Pattabhiramangar councillor C.K. Ramamurthy and his counterpart in Shakambari Nagar B. Somshekar.
They have sought direction to the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold the elections before April 22 when the term of the present council expires.
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They have also sought directions to the government to complete the process of delimitation as per the 2011 census while pointing out that authorities have not initiated steps to hold the elections on time.
According to the new law, 50 per cent of the wards will have to be reserved for women.
The government counsel told the court that the process of delimitation of wards and fixing caste-based reservation is almost over.
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Only the process of issuing notification inviting objection from the public is pending.
The counsel for the SEC has pointed out that it has been communicating with the government since 2013 on delimitation of wards and reservation, and nothing has been communicated so far.
Justice Nagarathna, who noticed that the apex court in its guideline has made it clear that elections to local bodies should be held before expiry of the term of existing elected bodies except during natural or man-made calamities, asked the government to inform the court on the actions taken for timely conduct of elections to the BBMP.