Supreme Court lauds Nagaland for holding local body polls with 33% women quota, closes contempt case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed the contempt of court proceedings against the State of Nagaland after the State successfully conducted local body polls with 33 percent reservation for women..A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan remarked that the holding such elections with the record number of women winners and participants was 'very commendable'."The affidavit of the Chief Secretary indicates shows record number of 198 women candidates participating out of which 103 have been elected ... It is submitted and rightly so that election process has been completed successfully. Civil appeal is disposed of for being infructuous. Contempt proceedings and rule is discharged," the Court ordered..The elections were held on June 26 after a 20-year gap.The Supreme Court was hearing a case concerning non-compliance with its earlier directions to hold local body polls in Nagaland.The Court in its previous orders had directed that 33 percent of the seats should be reserved for women.The Court had in July last year reiterated that Constitutional provisions of reservation for women in local bodies must be implemented in Nagaland, while criticising both the State and Central governments for failing to take steps to implement the same despite being part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance..The hearing on this issue has been a protracted one with the matter earlier being before the Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul who retired in December 2023.On April 17 last year, the Court had sought the response of Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and the State's Chief Secretary in a contempt application filed in the case.Prior to this, the Court had stayed the Nagaland government's decision to cancel local body elections in the State.That order of stay was passed on a petition moved by activist Rosemary Dzuvichu and the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).The two petitioners had challenged a resolution passed by the Nagaland State Assembly on September 22, 2012, which exempted the operation of Part IX-A of the Constitution, which mandates such reservation for women.In 2016, the above resolution was withdrawn by the Nagaland Assembly, even though the reservation was yet to be implemented.In April 2022, the Supreme Court warned that it was granting a final opportunity to the Nagaland government to report on how it proposes to implement the reservation.On March 14 last year, the State Election commission had told the Court that the polls will be held on May 16, soon after the State assembly elections. However, on March 30 it cancelled the notification with regard to the same citing opposition from some tribal pressure groups.In April that year, the bench asked the State Advocate General (AG) as to how granting reservation to women would affect any customary rights of the larger Naga community.Justice Kaul had remarked that one State in the country cannot be allowed to be exempt from the Constitutional scheme.In May 2023, a bench led by Justice Kaul had said that it expected the Chief Minister to show some restraint rather than say that status quo would continue..Nagaland Advocate General KN Balagopal appeared for the State, and Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj appeared for the Union of India.Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves appeared for PUCL.Advocates Sriram Parakkat and Mohamed Sadique TA represented the Nagaland Central Nagaland Women Association, which was against extending the benefit of reservation to women in local bodies.