Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Oct 5: State advocate general, Uday Holla, assured the state high court on Thursday October 4, that he would advise the state government to withdraw its September 6 order revising the reservation criteria it had earlier announced for heads and their deputies of urban local bodies in the state. This has come as a dampener for the government's apparent efforts to bag power by changing reservation criteria at the last minute and wrest power from opposition BJP.

The high court bench, which recorded Holla's statement, adjourned hearing to October 9.

Over ten petitions filed by people including Kanakappa Araligudda from Gadag and some councillors from Karkala and Udupi came up for hearing in the high court bench presided over by Justice Vineet Kothari on Thursday. The petitioners charged the government of making changes in the reservation criteria with the tacit objective of keeping BJP away from power. After hearing arguments and counter arguments in the case for some time, the bench adjourned the hearing.

Advocates for the petitioners said that the government had issued order on September 3, fixing reservation criteria for the posts of heads and their deputies in respect of all the 226 urban local bodies for which election was held. They said that the government found later that JD(S)-Congress coalition did not enjoy majority in several local bodies. Therefore, to rob BJP's chances of rising to power in these local bodies, it issued fresh orders on September 6, revising reservation criteria of over 30 local bodies, they alleged. They argued that there is no provision for revising the reservation already announced.

"Under Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, the government is not vested with the powers to change reservations. The government has acted illegally. Therefore, the order dated September 6 needs to be quashed," they explained.