"Heartfelt thanks": Jayant Patil welcomes Supreme Court's order on Maharashtra local body elections

Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar faction leader Jayant Patil has expressed deep gratitude to the Supreme Court of India for intervening in the longdelayed Maharashtra local body electionsIn a post on social media platform X Patil said the apex courts directive marks a significant step in upholding democratic principles in the state hellipmdash Jayant Patil Jayant_R_Patil May 6 2025ldquoFor the past 3 years no elections for local selfgovernance institutions have been held in Maharashtrardquo Patil wrote ldquoThese bodies have been run by administrative officers denying the people their democratic rightsrdquoOn Monday the Supreme Court issued an interim order mandating the state government and State Election Commission to announce elections within one month and complete the process within four months The courtrsquos direction comes in response to repeated delays and legal complexities surrounding Other Backward Classes OBC reservations in local bodies The apex court clarified that the elections will be subject to its final judgment on the OBC quota issueldquoThese elections are essential for workers of all political parties in the staterdquo Patil added ldquoEven though delayed by 3 years I on behalf of our party express gratitude to the Supreme Court of the country for ordering these elections which are crucial for nurturing new leadership and keeping democracy aliverdquoThe Supreme Court has also allowed the Election Commission to seek an extension if conducting the elections within the stipulated timeframe proves challenging However Patil warned the state government against using this provision to postpone the polls any further ldquoWe sincerely hope that the state government does not delay the elections by using the Election Commission as an excuserdquo he saidThe Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra state election commission to notify local body elections in the state within four weeksA bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said the contentious issue of OBC reservation in local body polls of Maharashtra will be as it existed prior to the 2022 Banthia Commission reportThe top court accepted the commission report which recommended census to fix exact data on OBCs and reserve 27 per cent of seats for the category in local body polls in MaharashtraThe bench on Tuesday fixed a timeline for concluding the local body polls and asked the state panel to conclude it in four months and granted liberty to the state election commission SEC to seek more time in appropriate casesThe bench said the outcome of Maharashtra local body elections would be subject to decisions in pending petitions before the apex courtOn August 22 2022 the top court directed the SEC and the Maharashtra government to maintain the status quo with regard to the poll process for the local bodies in the stateThe top court passed the order on a plea of the Maharashtra government seeking a recall of the apex court order by which it directed the SEC not to renotify the poll process to 367 local bodies where it has already begun in order to provide reservation to OBCsThe state government came out with an ordinance providing 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Classes OBC in local body pollsThe government then moved the top court seeking a recall or modification of its orderThe top court on July 28 2022 warned the state poll panel of contempt action if it renotified the election process to such local bodiesThe apex court quashed the SEC notification to provide 27 per cent quotas for OBCs in local bodies in 2021 and in December of the same year it ruled reservation for OBCs in local bodies would not be allowed unless the government fulfilled the triple test laid down in the top courts 2010 orderThe top court ruled the OBC seats would be renotified as general category seats until thenWith inputs from AgenciesatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params