The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Andhra Pradesh local body elections after dismissing the YSR Congress Party’s plea seeking to defer the polls until completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant upheld the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s judgment on the election process. The State Election Commission told the Supreme Court that it is ready to issue the election notification within six weeks, in line with the timeline fixed by the High Court.
The Supreme Court said that if the SIR process is completed before the notification is issued, the revised voter list should be used for the elections. If the revision is not complete by then, the polls can proceed using the existing voter list. The order therefore leaves the State Election Commission with a defined route to begin the election process without waiting indefinitely for the roll revision to conclude.
The YSRCP had approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction that local elections be held only after the SIR process was completed. According to the report, the court did not accept the issues raised by the party. The bench also observed that obstructing the conduct of elections amounts to obstructing public interest.
The ruling has a direct bearing on the functioning of Andhra Pradesh’s local governance system, where elected bodies are responsible for civic administration and the delivery of services at the local level. The State Election Commission’s proposed six-week timeline now becomes the immediate operational milestone for the next stage of the process.
The Supreme Court also dismissed an appeal filed by the Andhra Pradesh government against an order of the High Court relating to reservation for backward classes in local body elections. The High Court had struck down two government orders providing 34 per cent reservation for backward classes, holding that the quota did not comply with Supreme Court guidelines that total reservation should not exceed 50 per cent.
The High Court had issued its order on October 1 and directed the state government and the State Election Commission to begin the election process within six weeks. The Supreme Court bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu described the High Court’s order as reasonable. The next formal step is the State Election Commission’s issuance of the election notification within the court-linked timeline.
