BBMP guidelines are rational: High Court

Govt told to file affidavit with details of SC/ST population in each ward

The Court, which has been hearing a batch of petitions challenging the notification, had on Wednesday directed the State government to file an affidavit giving details of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe population in each of the wards and also clarify Clause 5 and 6 of the guidelines.

The Court accepted the BBMP’s counsel Additional Advocate General K M Nagaraj’s submission that if BBMP went for ward-wise reservation, each Assembly segment would end up with two to three reserved wards.

To avoid it, BBMP had decided to pick a ward in each of the 23 Assembly constituencies with the most number of SC population and then reserve the seat.

There are 23 seats that have to be reserved for SC out of which eight are for women. The same format would be followed for the two ST seats as well.

Justice H N Nagamohan Das, ruled that the format seemed to be a specific scientific formula to spread the reserved seats in as many assembly segments.

 “There is nothing illegal or irrational in this guideline. It is practical, rational and specific and it achieves the ends of social justice.”

Ruling that there were no grounds to interfere, the Judge dismissed the petition.
Road works in UAS

The High Court on Wednesday refused to grant an interim injunction to stop civil works on the construction of a road passing through the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) campus.

A PIL had been filed by seven former Vice Chancellors of UAS, including G K Veeresh and R Dwarkinath, seeking an injunction to stop work on the 9.2-km road connecting Yeshwantpur and Yelahanka as it would cause ecological damage on the 1,381 acre campus.

BBMP counsel, K N Puttegowda informed the Court that the road was almost complete and only asphalting remained to be completed. The final hearing has been set for December 11.