High Court Upholds Block-Level Roster For SC/ST Reservations For Punjab Panchayat Elections

The Punjab & Haryana High Court while upholding the block-level roster for SC/ST Reservation has dismissed a batch of 57 pleas seeking reservation for Schedule Caste on general seats for Panchayat Elections which had taken place on October 15.

Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma opined that the representation of the the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled is taken care at the block level.

The bench explained that the reservation rosters for Scheduled Castes  and Scheduled Tribes in Gram Panchayats should be determined by the population proportion of these communities within a block, rather than at the district level. 

Moreover, while relying on Apex Court's decision in West Bengal State Election Commission V Communist Party of India (Marxist) [Civil Appeal No.8515 of 2018] ,the Court said that there is constitutional bar on the Court under Article 243-O of the constitution to interfere with the electoral matters and the remedy to question any election to the Panchayats lies by filling the election petition.

A batch of petition had sought quashing of the amendments made in September 2024, in Rule 3 and Rule 6-A of the Punjab Reservation, for the Offices of Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats and Chairmen and Vice- Chairmen of Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads Rules, 1994.

The plea alleged that from the last two consecutive elections, the post of Sarpanch has not been reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste category and the significant Scheduled Caste population in certain villages has been ignored.

After examining the submissions, the Court found that Section 12(1) of the Punjab Panchayati Raj 1994 Act initially required the proportion of Schedule Cast  and Schedule Tribe reservations to be calculated at the district level.

However, the rule (Rule 3(1) ) was later amended to refer specifically to the block as the basis for the reservation rosters. The court observed that the amendment was aimed to achieve a more holistic representation for the Schedule Cast and Schedule Tribe populations within various Panchayat constituencies.

Stating that there is no merit in the pleas, the batch of writ petitions were dismissed.

Also read: Why Punjab & Haryana High Court Rejected Over 800 Writ Petitions Challenging Punjab Panchayat Elections?

 Title: SOM NATH v. STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (PH) 303

Click here to read/download the order