BBMP elections: HC’s delimitation orders on Sept 21

The High Court on Tuesday reserved orders on the petitions challenging the delimitation of BBMP wards. The seven petitions that challenge the ward delimitation are now posted for September 21. The SEC is set to announce the final electoral list on September 22. The election process will commence after the electoral list is announced.

The single-judge bench of Justice Hemanth Chandanagoudar is hearing a batch of petitions filed by aspiring BBMP corporators and some previous corporators. The number of wards has been increased from 198 to 243 following the amendment of the BBMP Act by the Karnataka government.

SEC’s, govt’s stands

The SEC has said that the election process cannot be stayed even if there are defects in the delimitation exercise, and any defects have to be rectified by the next election. The government had however defended the delimitation process and pointed out that the average population in each ward was maintained at 34,750 — with a deviation of 10 per cent.

The matter also went to the Supreme Court regarding whether petitions challenging the BBMP delimitation can be heard by the High Court. The SC said that the HC could hear these petitions. The matter then came back before the HC.

The HC was told that the final list of voters would be finalised on September 22, after considering objections that have been received.

Malafide not proved: HC

When the advocates for one of the petitioners said that the delimitation exercise had malice, the HC said it was not proved. “Where is the malice? I asked the learned advocates to establish malafide. That they are unable to do,” the court said.

The court also said on Tuesday that uniformity across all BBMP wards was not an absolute necessity. “Article 82 has been interpreted by the honourable Supreme Court which has held that there need not be uniformity in the constituencies,” the court said. The HC also said that renaming of the wards could wait till the next election.