PANAJI
The Goa government on Monday filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging orders of the Bombay High Court at Goa which had rapped the State government for failing to hold panchayat elections on time and directed that the elections be completed within 45 days.
The SLP came after the High Court also rejected a request from the State government to allow another 30 days to complete the election process citing the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
On Sunday, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade revealed that the State government would approach the Supreme Court against the High Court order asking the government to hold the panchayat elections within 45 days.
“I am of the opinion that elections should be held only after reservation. There should be no injustice done to OBCs,” Tanavade had said.
Before the High Court the State government contended that the elections could not be held on account of the monsoons and later contended that it would like the elections to be held only in September account of the monsoon session of the legislative assembly, both reasons were rejected by the High Court which pointed to the Supreme Court judgement which while passing a judgement on May 10 this year directed that “until the triple test formality is completed “in all respects” by the State Government, no reservation for Other Backward Classes can be provisioned; and if that exercise cannot be completed before the issue of election programme by the State Election Commission, the seats (except reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which is a constitutional requirement), the rest of the seats must be notified as for the General Category”.
Subsequent to the judgement the State Election Commission notified the reservations for the panchayat polls without the reservations for OBCs which has now upset the community and provided much needed fire power to the opposition parties which now wish to take it up in a big way in the upcoming session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
