Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
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e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | 1961 Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Petition Disposed Off |
Headnote | Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961 – s.12(2)(c) – Constitution of India – Arts. 14, 16, 243-D and 243-T – Reservation in local self-government – Petitioners sought a declaration that s.12(2)(c) of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961, is ultra vires the provisions of Arts. 243-D and 243-T including Arts. 14 and 16 of the Constitution – In addition, the validity of notifications dated 27.07.2018 and 14.02.2020 issued by the State Election Commission providing for reservation exceeding 50 per cent in respect of Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis have been questioned – The provision in the form of s.12 of the 1961 Act enables the respondents to reserve 27 per cent of seats for persons belonging to the Backward class citizens in the concerned Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis – The respondent-State urged that the that it is permissible to reserve seats for OBCs to the extent permissible in the 1961 Act – Held: The decision of the Constitution Bench in K. Krishna Murthy required the triple test/conditions required to be complied by the State before reserving seats in local bodies for OBCs i.e. (1) to set up a dedicated Commission to conduct contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies, within the State; (2) to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body wise in light of recommendations of the Commission, so as not to fall foul of overbreadth; and (3) in any case such reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together – The said triple test conditions were not complied by the State – As regards s.12(2)(c) of the 1961 Act inserted in 1994, the plain language does give an impression that uniform and rigid quantum of 27 per cent of the total seats across the State need to be set apart by way of reservation in favour of OBCs – In light of the dictum of the Constitution Bench, such a rigid provision cannot be sustained much less having uniform application to all the local bodies within the State – The provision in the form of s.12(2)(c) can be saved by reading it down – The expression “shall be” preceding 27 per cent occurring in s.12(2)(c), be construed as “may be” including to mean that reservation for OBCs may be up to 27 per cent but subject to the outer limit of 50 per cent aggregate in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together, as enunciated by the Constitution Bench of this Court – In the instant case, no inquiry much less contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness by a dedicate Commission established by the State for the purpose was undertaken, it is not open to the State to fall back on s.12(2)(c) as enacted in 1994 – That provision is an enabling provision and would become functional and operational only upon fulfilling triple test as specified by the Constitution Bench – Thus, the impugned notifications issued by the State Election Commission reserving seats for OBCs in the concerned local bodies, suffer from the vice of foundational jurisdictional error – The impugned notifications to the extent it provides for reservation for OBCs in the concerned local bodies, is, therefore, void and without authority of law. |
Judge | Hon'ble Mr. Justice A.M. Khanwilkar |
Neutral Citation | 2021 INSC 150 |
Petitioner | Vikas Kishanrao Gawali |
Respondent | State Of Maharashtra & Ors. |
SCR | [2021] 2 S.C.R. 173 |
Judgement Date | 2021-03-04 |
Case Number | 980 |
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