Bengaluru mayoral poll: SC issues notice to Karnataka

 The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Karnataka government and others on a plea by a social activist challenging the provision allowing the MPs, MLAs and MLCs to cast votes in the election of the mayor of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.

A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman admitted the special leave petition filed by Bengaluru resident Abraham T J who contended that the will of the people, which is supreme in a democracy, had got disturbed with the election to one level seeing the participation of elected representatives of another level of governance.

People’s choice

The petitioner contended that the people’s choice in the local body was for the BJP, which got 100 seats but the mandate was allowed to be twisted with the provisions and the Congress and the JD(S), which got just 76 and 14 elected councillors, respectively, managed to rule the corporation.

Abraham, represented by advocate Sriram Parakkat, challenged the constitutional validity of the amendment to Article 243R of the Constitution allowing MLAs and MPs to vote in the mayoral election, contending that it was violative of the basic structure of the Constitution doctrine as envisaged in the Kesavananda Bharati case.