Conduct civic polls, SC tells Puducherry govt.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union Territory of Puducherry to complete the delimitation process in four weeks and hold the panchayat and municipal elections which has been in limbo for over two years.

A Bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and L. Nageswara Rao cautioned the Puducherry authorities of serious consequences if elections were not held within the stipulated time.

The Bench passed the order on a special leave petition filed by Puducherry against a Madras High Court order to hold the local body polls by June 2015. The HC order was based on a petition filed by Ananda Lakshmi.

“We are not concerned with the reservation of seats. The duration of the elected body will be five years and no more. Presently no election has been held. We understand that the Puducherry Village and Panchayat Act has provisions which are reflective of reservation,” the Bench said in its order.

The court said the election should be notified immediately after the delimitation process is completed. On no account will the election process be stalled.

The Bench gave this direction after hearing senior counsel R. Venkataramani and counsel V. G. Pragasam for the UT, counsel Aristotle for the State Election Commission, Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh and Col. Balasubramanian for the Centre, counsel V. Balaji for the original petitioner Ashok Kumar, who was impleaded in this appeal.