DADASAHEB ARJUN GULVE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In all these writ petitions, the petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of section 5-B of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 (for short "MMC Act"), section 5-B of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 (for short "BPMC Act"), section 9-A of the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965 (for short "Municipalities Act"), section 12-A of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis act, 1961 (for short "Zilla Parishads act") and section 10-A in the Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1950 (for short "the Village Panchayats Act"). In the alternative, counsel for the petitioners submitted that the time limit of four months prescribed for production of a caste/tribe validity certificate by the second proviso to each of the aforesaid sections should be held to be directory.

(2.) Since all the petitions raise common questions of law and challenge the constitutional validity on the same grounds and also put forward the same interpretation to the second proviso which are identical in each of the abovementioned sections of the Acts, we are passing this common order.

(3.) Article 243-D of the Constitution of India provides that seats shall be reserved for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in every panchayat. The number of seats so reserved are required to bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that panchayat as the proportion of scheduled castes in that panchayat area or of the scheduled tribes in that panchayat area bears to the total population of that area. Article 243-T of the Constitution of India provides that seats shall be reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in every municipality (which under Article 243-Q shall include a Nagar Panchayat, a Municipal Council and a Municipal Corporation). The number of seats so reserved are required to bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that municipality as the population of the scheduled castes in that municipal area or of the scheduled tribes in that municipal area bears to the total population of that area. In order to fulfil the constitutional mandate contained in Articles 243-D and 243-T of the Constitution of India, the Legislature of State of Maharashtra has made provisions for reservation of seats for persons belonging to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes of citizens in municipalities, village panchayats and zilla parishads.