India News | Civic Polls: Model Code of Conduct Lifted

Puducherry, Oct 22 (PTI): The Election Commission of Puducherry has lifted the model code of conduct the Commission enforced from October 8, official sources said on Friday.

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The code of conduct was brought into effect while releasing the revised civic poll schedule which has been held in abeyance by an order of Madras High Court.

Election Commissioner Roy P Thomas said in a press release here that the Commission had received legal opinion for the local body elections in the Union Territory and has found that in view of the interim order of the court on writ petitions on October 21 the election schedule has become uncertain and accordingly the code of conduct has become infructuous.

The court on Thursday extended till November 11 the operation of its earlier order which directed the Puducherry government and the Election Commission to keep in abeyance all further proceedings in the matter of conducting the polls.

The writ petitions sought to quash a government order (GO) dated October 6 of the Local Administration Secretariat in Puducherry and the consequential notifications issued by the State Election Commission on October 7.

The petitioners contended that by virtue of the impugned notifications passed by the authorities on October 6 and 7, the reservation meant for backward classes and scheduled tribes to contest in the five Municipalities and 10 Commune Panchayats in the Union Territory had been taken away.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)