SC rejects State's petition for clarification on BBMP polls

Govt had sought to know if 8 months' time was from July 3 or Aug 5

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a plea by the State government to clarify the July 3 order, giving eight weeks to conduct the BBMP elections.

The government had, on Wednesday, filed an application before the court, seeking clarification as to when the deadline fixed for holding the elections would come to an end.

It urged the court to pass an order if eight weeks granted for the purpose on July 3 was to be computed from that day or from the previous three-month deadline ending on August 5.
It claimed that the election commission should intervene only after the end of eight weeks i.e., August 28.

On Thursday, senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal, appearing for the government, mentioned the matter seeking immediate hearing.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice H L Dattu, which agreed to hear the application after the end of the listed matters, declined to pass any order.

The counsel pointed out that after the July 3 order by the apex court, the HC agreed to hear a PIL and asked the State Election Commission (SEC) to provide a schedule by July 16. He also cited a news report that the HC had posted the matter for consideration on July 17.

“There is no order by the HC. We don’t know what order is going to be passed by the HC,” the bench, also comprising Justices Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy, said, rejecting the application.

Clarification sought
In its application, the State government said, “A clarification is required that the period of eight weeks granted is specifically to the State government and its authorities and not to the SEC. The SEC will come into the picture only after the lapse of eight weeks time period.”

It maintained that the time frame of eight weeks was provided to the State government and its authorities, unlike the previous order of the apex court of May 5, wherein three months’ time was given to the SEC to complete the election process.

Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi and S Guru Krishna Kumar, representing some of the former corporators, submitted that the State government did not want to hold the elections and the application was meant to delay it further.

On May 5, the apex court had given three months to the government for holding the elections. The period would have come to end on August 5. The SEC had later announced July 28 as the date for the elections.

In July, the State government sought further time for carrying out delimitation of wards on the basis of the 2011 census.

However, the court nixed the plea, saying that the State government could not retract from the assurance given on May 5. This way, the deadline set by the SC for the SEC to hold elections would come to an end on August 28.