GEETHAKRISHNAN Vs. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The issue pertains to the reservation of the wards in the Corporation of Kollam for the ensuing election to the local bodies in terms of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 ['the Act' for short]. Art.243 T of the Constitution of India provides for the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes including women in every Municipality. The number of seats so reserved shall be proportionate to the population of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Municipal area when compared to the total population of that area. The State Government has fixed the number of seats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes in the category of women in the Corporation of Kollam as 2 only. Seats have also been reserved for women to the extent of 50% of the total number including those belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the Act. Both Art.243 T of the Constitution of India as well as R.6 of the Act speak of reservation by 'rotation' to the different constituencies (wards) in a Municipality. How best the wards in the Corporation of Kollam could be ear - marked for reservation by rotation in accordance with the constitutional and statutory mandate is the question

(2.) I heard Mr. S. Abhilash, Advocate on behalf of the petitioner, Mr. Murali Purushothaman, Standing Counsel on behalf of the State Election Commission and Mr. Boby John Pulikkaparambil, Government Pleader. I also heard Mr. M. K. Chandra Mohan Das, Standing Counsel for the Corporation of Kollam and Mr. K. Subash Chandra Bose, Advocate for the additional respondents.

(3.) There are altogether 55 constituencies (wards) in the Corporation of Kollam including the Thrikkadavur Panchayat annexed to it by bifurcation to which the election has to be conducted. 50% of the total number of 55 seats works out to 27 1/2 which shall be fixed to the next higher integer of 28 in view of the fraction of half ( 1/2). That the figure shall be fixed to the next higher integer in the case of fraction is discernible from S.6(6) and S.6(7) of the Act which gives no room for any doubt. The reservation has to be effected by rotation to different constituencies obviously to prevent successive reservation to the same constituency. Such is the intention can well be gathered as held in Venugopal V. R. and Another v. Secretary, Tripunithura Municipality and Others, 2010 (4) KHC 47 . Thus a reserved constituency shall not continue to be such and a general constituency can be converted to a reserved constituency for the next election.