Nagaland to implement 33 per cent women reservation in local polls, Supreme Court adjourns contempt case

The Nagaland government has informed the Supreme Court that the state is set to conduct elections to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) with a mandatory 33% reservation for women in June. This announcement came during a hearing in the apex court where the contempt case filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) was adjourned to July 16th.

The commitment from Nagaland follows a stern warning from the Supreme Court over non-compliance with its earlier order mandating reservation of seats for women in local body elections. The apex court had issued a contempt notice to the state government and had cautioned that it would pursue the matter to its "logical conclusion" if the elections were not conducted in line with the constitutional mandate.

A two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices S.K. Kaul and Aravind Kumar, had not only directed the Nagaland government to adhere to the reservation policy but also urged the Union government to intervene and advise the state accordingly.

This development comes after the Nagaland Assembly unanimously passed a bill in November last year, reserving 33% of the seats in urban local bodies for women. Initially, the state government had assured the Supreme Court that the election process would be completed by April 30, 2024.

In December 2023, the Supreme Court took note of an affidavit filed by the Nagaland chief secretary affirming the passage of the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2023, by the state assembly on November 9, 2023. The court directed the framing of rules within a month, before January 8, 2024, and mandated the completion of the election process by April 30, 2024.