By Our Staff Reporter
Nainital, 31 Dec: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard two petitions challenging the 2024 reservation rules for conducting civic and panchayat elections by the state government. After hearing both parties, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Narender G and Senior Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari has asked the state government to submit its reply within a week. The next hearing of the case will be held on 8 January 2025.
On behalf of the state government, Advocate General SN Babulkar and the CSC while presenting the state’s side, claimed that the reservations have been made as per the rules. Accordingly, the reservation committee has decided the civic elections. They also argued that there should be no interference now, as the nomination process has already been completed and the election process is already in motion.
However, Rishikesh resident Yogesh Sharma and Kashipur resident Anand Kumar have filed a petition claiming that the state government does not have the right to frame reservation rules. They argued that the right to make rules lies with the legislature of the central government, not the state government. They questioned the basis on which the state government made the rules for reservation for 2024 and demanded that the reservation of the bodies be decided again.
It is worth noting that the election schedule for the civic elections in Uttarakhand has been announced. The nominations have also been filed and the voting for the civic elections is due to be held on 23 January, while the results will be declared on 25 January.
