K. SHARANAPPA v. COMMISSIONER, KARNATAKA STATE ELECTION COMMISSION, BANGALORE
2005-02-07
V.GOPALA GOWDA
body2005
DigiLaw.ai
V. GOPALA GOWDA, J. ( 1 ) SINCE this writ petition can be disposed of at the preliminary hearing stage itself, Mr. K. N. Phanindra is directed to take notice on behalf of the first respondent and Sri H. B. Narayan, learned High Court government Pleader to take notice on behalf of 2nd respondent. ( 2 ) HEARD the learned Counsels for the parties. ( 3 ) PETITIONER belongs to Backward Community 'a' Category. He is aggrieved by the reservation made to woman category under the impugned Notification at Annexure-C in respect of elections to the 3rd respondent-Gram Panchayat. It is the grievance of the petitioner that the reservation is not made on rotation basis as provided under the proviso to sub-section (4) of Section 5 of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj act, 1993 (in short, 'the Act' ). It is the further contention that the reservation made on the basis of the general order of the first respondent and the instructions contained in the circular dated 30-10-2004 issued by the first respondent is contrary to the object and intent of reservation policy under the Act, which is a constitutional right. By not making the reservation on rotation basis, the confidence of electorate is lost. ( 4 ) IN view of the submissions made by Mr. Phanindra, learned counsel for the first respondent, this Court declines to accept the contentions of the petitioner. The submissions made by him are that the impugned Notification at Annexure-C is dated 20-1-2005 and it is contemplated to issue the Calendar of Events today. But the writ petition is filed only on 5-2-2005. Therefore, it is not a fit case for interference at this juncture. Insofar as the reservation made is concerned, he submitted that the same has been done on the basis of the general order and the circular instructions taking into consideration the total population based on last Census. ( 5 ) THE grievance of the petitioner is that in the previous election the seat was reserved for BCM-A Woman and this time also it is reserved for woman, thereby rotation system is not followed. As admitted by the petitioner in paragraph 5 of the writ petition, during the previous elections the total number of seats were 11 but the same is now enhanced to 13 on the basis of the population of last Census.
As admitted by the petitioner in paragraph 5 of the writ petition, during the previous elections the total number of seats were 11 but the same is now enhanced to 13 on the basis of the population of last Census. Therefore, out of 3 seats reserved for BCM-A Category, 2 are reserved for female and 1 for male. The reservation has been made taking into consideration all relevant factors and this Court cannot interfere with the same at this juncture. ( 6 ) IT is pertinent to note that petitioner is a voter. He has not stated that he intends to contest in the election. If he chose to contest, he can do so for the seat reserved for male. If he does not contest, he can cast his vote to any of the contesting candidates. In both situations, his right is not taken away. Therefore, he cannot have any grievance in the matter. ( 7 ) WRIT petition is devoid of merit and the same is dismissed. --- *** --- .