BENGALURU: The high court passed an order reserving liberty to the petitioners who had challenged the July 14, 2022 notification regarding delimitation of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) wards to approach the Supreme Court seeking certain clarifications.
Justice Hemant Chandanagoudar noted that in the case of Suresh Mahajan, the SC had observed that if delimitation was not done by Madhya Pradesh, the State Election Commission should give effect to the order directing that elections which are already due cannot be delayed on that count, in view of the constitutional mandate (to hold polls), and it's extended to other states as well. "Section 13 of BBMP Act-2020 specifies that general elections should be held for the constitution of a new corporation before expiry of the existing one or on dissolution. The term of the councillors had expired on September 10, 2020 and elections haven't been conducted till date. Hence, it would be appropriate to reserve liberty to the petitioners to approach the apex court to seek clarification as to whether the interim prayer/relief sought for in these writ petitions can be considered by this court," the judgesaid while posting the matter to August 29.
