The Odisha High Court on Tuesday slapped a stay on the recent notification issued by the Angul district Collector on delimitation and reservation of wards for the forthcoming municipal elections.
Admitting a writ petition challenging the Collector’s notification, a vacation Bench comprising Justices Indrajeet Mohanti and BK Nayak issued notices to the State Government.
The respondents of the petition who include the State Urban Development Secretary and Angul Collector were asked to file their counters within four weeks, said the petitioner’s advocate Satyabrata Pradhan.
Alleging that the reservation of wards has been done in an arbitrary manner, a voter of the locality, Anupama Das, had filed the writ petition. It may be mentioned here that the petitioner had earlier brought this to the notice of the Urban Development Department Secretary. The appellate authority had also asked the district Collector to change the reservations as per the policy governing it, Pradhan informed.