New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench hearing petitions challenging the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in Maharashtra local body polls on Tuesday orally remarked that it will allow the elections to proceed, but added that while reservation in excess of 50 per cent in seats where elections have already been notified will be subject to the proceedings before it, the quota should not cross the 50 per cent mark in seats yet to be notified.

“These 57, where it is more than 50 per cent, that will be subject to the outcome of these proceedings. Any further election which you notify, that must comply with the 50 per cent ceiling,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Suya Kant told senior advocate Balbir Singh, who appeared for the Maharashtra State Election Commission.

Singh said that elections to 246 Municipal Councils and 42 Nagar Panchayats are scheduled to be held on December 2 and that 57 of the total 288 local bodies have more than 50 per cent reservation. He added that the poll body is yet to notify elections to Zila Parishads, Municipal Corporations, and Panchayat Samitis.

The court also asked the Commission’s counsel to submit the list of the 57 seats where reservation exceeds 50 per cent. Earlier, in May this year, the Supreme Court had directed that the local body elections be completed within a period of four months, with OBC reservation restored as per the pre-2022 legal framework established by the J K Banthia Commission. It had clarified that the elections would be subject to the final outcome of petitions challenging the Banthia Commission’s recommendations.