SC issues notice to UP poll panel on plea by All India Council of Mayors
Mar 03, 2023
New Delhi [India], March 3 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission on a petition by the All India Council of Mayors in the matter concerning OBC quotas in the UP local body poll.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha issued notice and listed the matter on March 24.
The petitioner All India Council of Mayors has challenged Allahabad High Court December 27, 2012, order which directed that a three-member committee shall take over the affairs of the Municipal Body till the new elected body is formed.
The affected parties in the present case are 16 Mayors who were elected for their terms between 2017 and 2022. Their terms are to expire in January 2023.
The petition was filed through the advocate on record Dhananjay Garg. According to petitioner, as a consequence of the Impugned Judgment dated 27.12.2022 and the consequential Notification dated 4.01.2023, 16 elected Mayors, who are the members of the Petitioner Society, shall be impacted, as they shall be replaced by the 3-Member Committee.
"This direction is in complete disregard of the mandate laid down under Section 15(3) of the UP Municipal Corporation Act, 1959," the petitioner said adding that the direction is directly in conflict with Section 15(3) which provides that a Mayor continues to be in office, till such time the successor Mayor does not take charge.
The Petitioner Society was constituted in the year 1962 and said the organisation was known as 'Akhil Bhartiya Mahapaur Parishad'.
Similar provisions are also available for other constitutional posts such as President (Article 56), Vice President (Article 67) and Governor (Article 156), to ensure continuity in administrative functions, the petitioner said.
