SC orders hold on local polls in 9 new TN districts

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a hold on elections for local bodies in Tamil Nadu's nine new districts, recently carved out from four existing districts.

After the State Election Commission told the court on Thursday that elections will be held for all panchayats, intermediate and district level, except in nine reconstituted districts, a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde considered this suggestion for the nine districts for complying with legal formalities such as delimitation and issue of reservation for women and SC/ST candidates.

"There shall be no legal impediment in holding the elections in the rest nine districts of Tamil Nadu," the court said, also directing the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to conduct, within four months, the delimitation exercise and other formalities.

The court observed that the local body elections in the remaining districts will be held as per the earlier schedule.

The state election commission had on Monday declared that polls in Tamil Nadu will be held in two phases (December 27 and 30) without complying with the formalities.

The court had observed that the law must be followed even if it leads to postponement or stay of elections.

It had earlier agreed to hear on Thursday a fresh plea of the state's opposition DMK seeking a direction to the State Election Commission to complete delimitation and reservation in constituencies before the panchayat and local body elections.

The DMK told the apex court that no delimitation took place in the nine new districts for the local bodies polls.

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, representing the DMK, told the court that the court should urgently hear the plea as the polls have been announced, and that the elections to rural local bodies in the state will be held in two phases, on December 27 and 30.

He argued that the poll process has been set in motion, but the legal formalities are yet to be completed in connection with the delimitation exercise and reservation aspects in the upcoming elections. IANS