Sanskriti Kashyap
A plea was dismissed by a vacation bench of Supreme Court on Thursday which challenged the reservation notification issued by the State Election Commission on the grounds of the Successive/Consecutive reservation of the posts of Panchayat and Municipality.
A bench comprising Justices Indira Banerjee and Hemant Gupta observed that “Election process can’t be interfered with in the middle.”
The results of the local body elections were declared on December 16, and the panchayat President designation is scheduled for December 30.
The petitioner submitted that the President’s post in his Panchayat has been reserved for Scheduled Caste Community in the previous term (2015 -2020), and even for the present term (2020-2025).
Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, for the State of Kerala, submitted that the question of law on the validity of consecutive reservation is left open by the High Court.
And the counsel for the petitioner argued that the President’s election was separate from that of the local body.
The bench observed that interference by the court in the electoral matter is barred under Art. 2430 of the Indian Constitution.