Voting rights: HC directs impleading Centre

The High Court on Tuesday directed the petitioners, who have challenged the voting rights of MPs, MLAs and MLCs in the election for the posts of Bengaluru mayor and deputy mayor, to implead the Union government in the public interest litigation.

The PIL has been filed by K A Harikrishna, an advocate and others. The petitioners have questioned the constitutional validity of the Section 7 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, which enables the MPs, MLAs and MLCs to vote in the mayoral elections.

They have said that the said Section of the KMC Act violates Article 243(R) of the Indian Constitution by treating MPs, MLAs and MLCs on a par with councillors, who are directly elected by voters, for the purpose of electing the mayor and deputy mayor.

When the PIL came up before a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice S K Mukherjee and Justice B V Nagarathna, the Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar submitted that another batch of related petitions were pending before the single bench. To this, the division bench ordered that the PILs will not deter the petitions pending before the single bench. The hearing of the petitions before the single bench was adjourned to Wednesday.