AP High Court stays GHMC polls : It tells dispose cases before polls

By S A Ishaqui
Hyderabad,July 29: The AP High Court on Wednesday stayed the ongoing process for elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation till the final disposal of writ petitions filed against the elections. The petitions deal with exclusion of creamy layer from Backward Classes and categorising the reservations.
The court will hear the matter again in the third week of August. This effectively puts back the GHMC elections to October. Officials said identification of the creamy layer, those earning more than Rs 4 lakh a year, among Backward Classes will require three to four months.
Officials will have to seek income and caste certificates from BC voters to identify the creamy layer. Subsequently, the GHMC will have to categorise the BC voters into A,B,C,D and E groups.
The government is likely to move the Supreme Court against the High Court’s interim orders. Even if the government secures a stay, the process will take up to a week. After that, it is too close to the Ramzan-Ganesh Chaturthi festival season, and even the Congress is against holding during that period.
Besides, Congress circles feel it is prudent to wait, given the high prices of essential commodities.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan while passing an interim order said: “Pending disposal of writ petitions (on the elections) there shall be a stay on further proceedings including issuance of an election notification for elections to the GHMC.”
The judges said that “the order now passed by us will not preclude the authorities from identifying and excluding the creamy layer among the Backward Classes, providing group-wise reservation in favour of the Backward Classes and, thereafter, conducting elections to the GHMC in accordance with the law.”
The court said, “Reservation in favour of BCs even for election of wards of GHMC has to be on the basis of categorisation into A,B,C,D groups.”