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19. In Gujarat Assembly Election Matter In Re (supra), the Constitution Bench observed that "free, fair and periodic elections are part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India. In a democracy the little man - voter- has overwhelming importance and cannot be hijacked from the course of free elections". The Supreme Court in that case in paragraphs 147 and 148 observed thus:

The consequential fallout of not holding election for a long time is the functioning of a caretaker Government which is contrary to the principles of responsible government. The caretaker Government is not the solution to deferring elections for unduly long periods.
The Supreme Court then proceeded to observe that "where the act of God prevents the compliance with the words of a statute, the statutory provision is not denuded of its mandatory character because of supervising impossibility caused by the act of God. Situations may be created by interested persons to see that elections do not take place and the caretaker Government continues in office. This certainly would be against the scheme of the Constitution and the basic structure to that extent shall be corroded." The Supreme Court has also stated that man-made situation intended to defer holding of elections should be sternly dealt with and should not normally be a ground for deferring elections beyond six months period, the starting point of which would be the date of dissolution. Any man-made attempt to obstruct free and fair election is antithesis to democratic norms and should be overcome by garnering resources from the intended sources and by holding the elections within the six months' period.

27. All the laws are invariably made by the Legislature based on the authority conferred on them by the Constitution of India, that by itself does not give such laws any constitutional flavour. In any case the provisions of those laws cannot be elevated to the status of constitutional mandate. The provisions of Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2007, to the extent they provide for reservations to the other backward classes neither cast any constitutional mandate nor do they have any constitutional flavour. Any attempt to defer or delay the elections under the guise of seeking implementation of the Goa Municipalities (Amendment) Act of 2007 would, in our opinion, be subversive of not only the constitutional mandate of Article 243U but also the basic structure of the Constitution of India.