By Our Staff Reporter
Nainital, 6 Nov: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard a PIL filed regarding fixing reservation for OBCs in the state’s upcoming civic elections. Continuing the ongoing hearing of the case, the division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Vivek Bharti Sharma asked the state government to submit the reservation report of retired Justice BS Verma by tomorrow.
During today’s hearing, the state government stated that a committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of retired Justice BS Verma of the High Court to fix reservations in the bodies. The report has now been received by the government, which plans to bring a new bill to fix reservations. The court has directed the government to present it in writing.
Rudrapur resident Rizwan Ansari has filed the PIL. During the hearing, the petitioner argued that the state government is determining reservations in the bodies on the basis of the 2011 census. The civic elections of 2018 were also held on this basis. He claimed that, at present, the number of OBC voters has increased in the plains of the state instead of the mountains. Therefore, based on the report and the recommendation of the OBC committee, they should be given 27 percent reservation. In response, the state government said that it has issued a notification regarding reservations and sought objections from the public. The objections have been resolved, it further stated.
