RAMNATH YADAV Vs. JHARKHAND STATE ELECTION COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed for quashing part of the list dtd. 25/9/2021 prepared by the respondent No.2 whereby the post of Mukhia of Ghaghari Panchayat has been reserved for 'Scheduled Caste' (Woman) and this is the third consecutive term when the said Panchayat seat of Mukhia has been reserved for the candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste which is against the provisions of Sec. 21(A) of the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act, 2001 [hereinafter referred to as 'the Act, 2001'] and Rule 9(c) of the Jharkhand Panchayat Election Rules, 2001 [hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules, 2001']. Further prayer has been made for issuance of direction upon the respondents to consider the case of the petitioner for reservation of the seat/post of Mukhia of Ghaghari Panchayat for 'Other Backward Classe' (OBC).

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that on 25/9/2021, the respondent No.2 published the list of reserved constituencies for the post of Mukhia to be elected by way of forthcoming third Panchayat Election (General) whereby the constituency of Ghaghari Panchayat has been reserved for the Scheduled Caste (Woman) in a most arbitrary and discriminatory manner ignoring the fact that the largest population in Ghaghari Panchayat belongs to Other Backward Classes (OBC) whereas the second largest population in the said Panchayat belongs to Scheduled Caste. Sec. 21-A of the Act, 2001 and Rule 9(c) of the Rules, 2001 provide that the post of Mukhia shall be reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes and women in different constituencies on rotation basis, however, the post of Mukhia of Ghaghari Panchayat has been reserved for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes for the third consecutive term.

(3.) Learned counsel for the respondents submits that Article 243-O of the Constitution of India has restricted the Courts from intervening in the matter of delimitation of Panchayat constituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies and as such the present writ petition is not maintainable. On bare perusal of Sec. 21-A of the Act, 2001 and the Rules, 2001, it would be evident that the percentage of reservations has to be given firstly to ST category then SC category and thereafter rest of the seats are to be reserved for OBC category, subject to the upper limit of 50% of the total seat. Further, at least 50% reservation has to be given to the women in each category including General (Other) category. The allotment of all seats has to be made on rotation basis by the District Magistrate as per Rule 15 of Rules, 2001 under the supervision, direction and control of the State Election Commission. On the basis of percentage of population in Sagma Block, total number of seats for the post of Mukhia are 5. Out of these, two posts are reserved for the SC as per their population in Sagma Panchayat Samiti (Block) and rest three posts are reserved for other categories as per their population in the said Panchayat Samiti. In the year 2015, election of 5 numbers of above posts of Mukhia was held on the basis of the percentage of their respective population wherein as per second proviso to Rule 11(1) of the Rules, 2001, the SC was allotted 2 seats whereas Others (General) were allotted 3 seats. In the year 2021, the population being the same, the reservation is also to be in the same manner. Hence, the allotment is as follows: (i) Backward Classes (ii) Others (General) (iii) Scheduled Tribes and (iv) Scheduled Castes on the basis of rotation in descending and cyclic order. As such, the 'Other' (General) have been allotted 3 seats and the SC have been allotted 2 seats. In the first Panchayat Election held in the year 2010, the rotation for these 5 seats of Mukhia in Sagma Block was as follows: (i) Scheduled Tribes (ii) Scheduled Castes (iii) Backward Classes (iv) Others (General) which was changed in the year 2015 as (i) Scheduled Castes (ii), Backward Classes (iii) Others (General) (iv) Scheduled Tribes and in the year 2021, the said rotation has come as (i) Backward Classes (ii) Others (General) (iii) Scheduled Tribes and (iv) Scheduled Castes. Accordingly, for the next Panchayat Election (which was proposed to be held in the year, 2021 itself), allotment of seats for the post of Mukhia has been made on rotation basis in which in the first round of rotation, one seat has been allotted to Birbal Gram Panchayat (General category) and one seat has been allotted to Ghaghari Gram Panchayat (Scheduled Caste) having the highest population of the Scheduled Castes. Similarly, in the second round of rotation, one seat has been allotted to Sondeeha (General) and another seat has been allotted to Sagma Gram Panchayat (SC). In third round of rotation, rest one post has been allotted to Katharkalan (Others). In this way, all the five seats have been allotted to the five Panchayats. The reservation/allotment of seats for the Panchayat Elections, 2010 was made in the light of the published census data of 2001 and in the said election, as per Rule 9(ga) and 11 of the Rules, 2001, one post was allotted for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes in Ghaghari Gram Panchayat having the highest population of Scheduled Castes. However, during next Panchayat Election i.e. in 2015, the census report of 2011 was published and enforced. On the basis of the said census report, the highest population of Scheduled Castes category was in Ghaghari Gram Panchayat and in the light of the existing laws i.e. Rule 9(ga) and 11 of the Rules, 2001, again one seat was reserved for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes in Ghaghari Gram Panchayat under rotation policy. Similarly, in the year 2021 i.e. for the proposed third Panchayat Election, the census data of population was the same and hence percentage of population of all categories remained the same as was in the year 2015. As per third proviso to Rule 11(1) of the Rules, 2001, the rotation was started from Backward Classes to Others, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes keeping in seriatim without making any change in the allotment of seats and once again the seat for Ghaghari Gram Panchayat was reserved for Scheduled Castes. It is a matter of chance and also due to prevailing rules and rotation policy, the seat for Ghaghari Gram Panchayat has been reserved for Scheduled Castes in three consecutive Panchayat Elections. It is further submitted that the preparation for conducting the Panchayat Elections has almost been completed by the respondent No.1 and the same is scheduled to be held any time as soon as the State Government gives its consent for conducting the same. Hence, there is no possibility of change in the reservation system and allotment of seat, especially, in the light of the provisions laid down in the Constitution of India as well as in terms with the relevant provisions of the Act, 2001 and the Rules, 2001. In a similar situation, the reservation of Chairperson in Municipality was earlier challenged by preferring a writ petition being W.P.(C) No. 358 of 2018 and after hearing both the parties, this Court dismissed the same vide order/judgment dtd. 14/3/2018.