PEOPLES UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES (PUCL) vs THE STATE OF NAGALAND - 2024-07-23

O R D E R

1. This Civil Appeal has originated out of the judgment date d 31.07.2012, passed by a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court i n Writ Appeal No.116 of 2012 .

2. It is not necessary to refer to the facts in detail bu t suffice it to mention that the controversy herein pertains t o allocation of wards for reservation to Scheduled Castes, Schedule d Tribes and Women in Municipal Councils and Town Councils in Nagalan d in accordance with the provisions of the Nagaland Municipal Act , 2023. The related issue of conducting election process for th e urban local bodies eventually became the primary task in thes e proceedings for which multiple orders for conducting the election s have been passed by this Court from time to time. The Stat e Election Commission was also actively involved and variou s directions were issued including a direction to complete th e election process before 30.04.2024. Thereafter, owing to som e circumstances beyond the control of the state authorities, the tim e was extended to enable them to finalise the ongoing election proces s by the end of June, 2024 .

3. We appreciate the action taken by the State of Nagaland i n a phased manner to ensure that the election of urban local bodie s are conducted in a peaceful manner, enabling healthy participatio n by all the people of the State .

4. Now, a Compliance Affidavit has been filed by the Chie f Secretary of the State of Nagaland, inter alia, informing that du e to non-participation of 14 Town Councils, under the Eastern Nagalan d region, the number of wards to be filled up were reduced to 278 ou t of a total of 418 wards. 64 candidates have been elected unoppose d and, in this manner, the number of constituencies left for contes t stood at 214. The election to these constituencies were hel d peacefully and the counting took place on 29.06.2024. The electio n results have been finally published in the Nagaland Gazette vide th e State Election Commission Notification dated 01.07.2024 .

5. The Affidavit of the Chief Secretary further highlight s that for the first time, the Town Municipal Council Elections saw a record number of 198 women candidates participating in the election , out of whom 103 have been elected .

6. We have heard learned Additional Solicitor General o f India and learned Advocate General for the State of Nagaland, wh o submit, and rightly so, that the election process having bee n conducted peacefully, nothing further survives for adjudication i n this appeal, or in the contempt proceedings initiated for allege d non-compliance of the interim directions issued by this Court fro m time to time .

7. Consequently, the Civil Appeal is disposed of as havin g become infructuous. The contempt proceedings are dropped and th e contempt notice is discharged .

8. As a result, the pending interlocutory applications , including the application for intervention, stand disposed of .

.........................J .

(SURYA KANT )

..............…….........J .

(UJJAL BHUYAN )

NEW DELHI ;

JULY 23, 2024 .

ITEM NO.9 COURT NO.4 SECTION XIV- A S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDING S Civil Appeal No(s).3607/201 6 PEOPLES UNION FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES (PUCL) & ANR. Appellant(s )

VERSU S THE STATE OF NAGALAND & ORS. Respondent(s )

IA No.88466/2023 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTION S IA No.69269/2023 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTION S IA No.143223/2023 - INTERLOCUTARY APPLICATIO N IA No.141043/2023 - INTERVENTION APPLICATIO N Date : 23-07-2024 This appeal was called on for hearing today .

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURYA KAN T HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYA N For Appellant(s) Ms. Mugdha, Adv .

Mr. Ali Qambar Zaidi, Adv .

Mr. Satya Mitra, AO R For Respondent(s) Mr. K N Balgopal, Sr.Ad./Advocate General O f State Of Nagalan d Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AO R Ms. Limayinla Jamir, Adv .

Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv . Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv .

Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv .

Mr. Vitso Rio, Adv .

Ms. Nitya Nambiar, Adv .

Ms. Prerna Tyagi, Adv .

Ms. Pinky Behera, AO R Mr. K M Nataraj, A.S.G .

Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv .

Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Adv .

Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv .

Mr. Pratyush Shrivastava, Adv .

Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, Adv .

Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv .

Mr. Sarthak Karol, Adv .

Dr. N.Visakamurthy, AOR, Adv .

Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AO R Mr. Shantanu Krishna, AO R Mr. Ankit Mishra, Adv .

Mr. Animesh Tripathi, Adv .

Mr. Gunjesh Ranjan, Adv .

Mr. Alok Kumar, Adv .

Mr. Prabhat Ranjan Raj, Adv .

Mr. Abhaid Parikh, AO R Mr. Kartik Rathi, Adv .

Mr. Vaibhav Sharma, Adv .

Mr. Rajat Jajoo, Adv .

Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AO R Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv . Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv .

Mr. Mohammed Sadique T.A., AO R Mr. Babu Karukapadath, Adv .

Mr. Shaji J Kodankandath, Adv .

Mr. Arvind Gupta, AO R Mr. Anil Kumar Sahu, Adv . Mr. Sunil Kumar Roy, Adv .

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the followin g

O R D E R

The Civil Appeal is disposed of as having becom e infructuous in terms of the signed order. The contempt proceeding s are dropped and the contempt notice is discharged .

As a result, the pending interlocutory applications , including the application for intervention, stand disposed of .

(SATISH KUMAR YADAV) (PREETHI T.C. )

ADDITIONAL REGISTRAR ASSISTANT REGISTRA R (Signed order is placed on the file )