MOHIT NEGI Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CLMA No. 14859 of 2019 (Interim Relief Application) Admit.

(2.) Before the State of Uttarakhand was created, and thereafter, elections to Panchayat Raj Institutions, including elections to the office of Chairman, Zila Panchayat, has been held on four occasions, firstly in the year 1995-96, thereafter in the year 2003, then in the year 2008, and, lastly, in the year 2014. However, the office of Chairman, Zila Panchayat, in any one of the 13 districts of the State, has never been reserved in favour of the Scheduled Tribes.

(3.) The proviso to Article 243-D of the Constitution requires reservation, in the office of Chairperson, Zila Panchayat, to be made in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, as nearly as may be to the population of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the State. On the ground that, during all previous elections, the percentage of population of the Scheduled Tribes, in each of these 13 districts of the State, fell below 0.5, no reservation was provided in favour of the Scheduled Tribes to the office of the Chairperson of the Zila Panchayat.