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Notification on ward delimitation, reservation of CMC seats quashed

CUTTACK: Even as the present term of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) council is ending in September this year, the Orissa High Court on Thursday quashed the State Government’s notification on ward delimitation and reservation of seats of the CMC.

The notification issued earlier this year was challenged in the HC by as many as four sitting corporators alleging that the ward delimitation and reservation of seats had been done in an arbitrary manner without taking note of the objections filed by different political parties.

Adjudicating over the writs, the HC had earlier stayed the government notification on March 24. Tagging all the petitions together, the division bench of Justice B P Das and Justice R N Biswal disposed of them on Thursday. While quashing the notifications, the HC asked the Government to do the exercise afresh taking note of the objections filed in this regard.

Four BJD corporators had moved the HC alleging that the increase of the CMC wards from 48 to 54 was done against the spirit of the unanimous resolution passed by the council.

The CMC council had suggested increasing the number of wards of the city to 61. “Moreover, reservation of the seats was not done in accordance with the demography of the city,” the petitions alleged.

Leaders of major political parties had also alleged massive irregularities in the government exercise on delimitation of wards and reservation of seats. State Urban Development Minister K V Singh Deo of BJP had, however, denied the allegations on the floor of the Assembly two months ago.

One of the petitioners alleged that while the wards of the present city Mayor Nibedita Pradhan of the BJP and 11 other party corporators were not touched in the delimitation exercise, the reservation of wards of some particular corporators was done in such a manner as would ensure that the sitting corporators did not get a chance to contest the next election.

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