SC stayed Allahabad HC's order to the UP government to hold urban local elections without OBC reservation

SC stayed Allahabad HC's order to the UP government to hold urban local elections without OBC reservation
 
Case: State of Uttar Pradesh v. Vaibhav Pandey and anr
Bench: Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha
 
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad High Court's order that the Uttar Pradesh government could hold pending urban local body elections without any reservations.
 
According to the Bench, holding elections without reservation for OBCs would be unconstitutional, even if a constitutional vacuum of vacancies were to be created.
 
UP government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court's verdict against its draft notification to provide OBC reservation in the elections without undergoing the triple test procedure. A High Court Bench of Justices Saurabh Lavania and DK Upadhyaya, on December 27, ordered the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct elections immediately without OBC reservations, as the State notification failed to meet the triple test formula set out by the Supreme Court.
 
The High Court quashed a government notification dated December 5, issued by the Department of Urban Development, stating that the government intended to hold elections for local councils after reserving four mayor seats for OBCs in the State.
 
Observing that the State has not set up a dedicated Commission to study the nature and implications of backwardness for the purpose of providing reservations to OBCs in local self-government institutions, the Court observed that the State had not changed the statutory prescriptions accordingly.
 
Furthermore, it had quashed a government order dated December 12, which stipulated that municipalities' bank accounts could only be operated under the joint signature of the Executive Officer and the Senior Most Officer in the Uttar Pradesh Palika Centralized Service (Accounts Cadre).
 
The State established a five-member commission after the verdict for the reservation of OBCs in urban local body elections.
 
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta appeared for the State in today's hearing before the apex court and said the commission might be ordered to complete its work within three months.
 
A municipal member's tenure is specified in the said Article, and the SG pointed out that tenure would not end until January 31.
 
When the Bench asked how fast the exercise could be completed, they then said, it depends on which terms have expired.