HC grants permission to Puducherry Election Commission to rescind local body poll notification

Commission to issue a fresh notification within five days after correcting anomalies in reserving seats

The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted permission to the Puducherry State Election Commission (SEC) to withdraw a notification issued by it on September 22 for holding local body polls in the Union Territory and issue a fresh notification within five days after correcting all anomalies in reserving the wards.

Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu were informed by Additional Solicitor General R. Sankaranarayanan that the government had decided not to reserve any of the seats for Backward Classes and Scheduled Tribes and to reserve certain wards only for the Scheduled Castes.

SEC counsel V. Chandrasekharan told the court that since the government had decided to make changes to the pattern in which the wards were to reserved, the commission had consequently decided to withdraw the election notification already issued and come up with a fresh notification for the polls.