The stay granted by the Supreme Court on the order of the High Court directing the Directorate of Municipal Administration to revise the notification in respect of reservation of wards and the State Election Commissioner to complete the poll process by mid-April could open options of different kind. Things would have gone smoothly if no interim stay was granted and matter taken on merits.
The interim stay in no way dilutes the culpability of the DMA in reservations and that of the State Election Commissioner in hastily announcing the schedule and staying blind to the controversial notification.
Now, the SEC is free to go ahead with Municipal elections based on the earlier government notification of reservation of wards however defective and violative of laid down parameters it may be. Supreme Court has not gone into the merits of the material issue. The apex court has probably considered only the technicality that once the election schedule is declared, courts should not disturb the same.
The DMA could also issue a fresh notification of reservation and iron out the gaps. The SEC could later issue a fresh schedule for the five municipalities. Anyway, a fresh schedule needs to be issued as of now. However, this possibility is rare as an arrogant government is not expected to own responsibility for lapses and respect genuine demands of opposition.
The government and SEC could also wait for the final order from the apex court and later act accordingly. There is no bar of mid-April to complete the elections as stay is operative. In any case, the Supreme Court is taking up the matter on March 9.
Looking at the interim stay, it looks that the Supreme Court wants to reinforce the precedent that courts should do nothing to put any hurdles in the election process once announced even if proven errors are seen in the delimitation and reservation.
I would say the interim order is bad for all the stakeholders as the ruling powers will gather muscle to commit illegalities and constitutional wrongs and get away with the same once the State Election Commissioner is brought on board to connive with the political agenda and interests of party in power. The High Court would not have interfered if the illegality was not grave. The High Court would have also refrained if it would have meant a derailment of elections.
No grave miscarriage would have happened if the Supreme Court had refused the stay. Elections to Municipal Councils would have got completed by mid-April with a revised notification of reservation of wards by removing the illegalities.
The current trends of judicial decisions in public issues and also prolonged judicial silence in the critical area of fundamental rights, arrests and detention of citizens by the apex court raises questions on whether the supremacy of justice and fairness is on trial in the Supreme Court and that pedestal is sacrificed by turning friendly to ruling powers.
