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2008 DIGILAW 1314 (PNJ)

Sukhjit Kaur v. State Of Punjab

2008-08-05

DAYA CHAUDHARY, SATISH KUMAR MITTAL

body2008
Judgment Satish Kumar Mittal, J. 1. The petitioner contested the election of Gram Panchayat of Village Bhagthala Kalan, Tehsil and District Faridkot, against the reserved category of General Women. Respondent No. 4 Jaspreet Kaur contested the said election against the reserved seat of Scheduled Caste Women. The petitioner as well as respondent No. 4 along with other persons were declared elected for the office of Panch and result was duly notified. The office of Sarpanch in the Gram" Panchayat of Village Bhagthala Kalan, Tehsil and District Faridkot was reserved for women. The petitioner as well as respondent No. 4 contested the said election and respondent No. 4 was declared* elected as Sarpanch. 2. Counsel for the petitioner contends that respondent No. 4 could not have been allowed to contest the election of Sarpanch in women category, because she had fought election for panch against the reserved seat of Scheduled Caste Women. He further contends that out of the total 7 panches, petitioner is the only candidate, who has contested and won the election of Panch against the category of general women and as such only she was eligible to contest the election of Sarpanch, which has been reserved for women. 3. In our opinion, contention of counsel for the petitioner is without any force. Section 12 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj, 1994 read with Rule 3 of the Punjab Reservation for the Offices of Sarpanches of gram Panchayats and Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads Rules, 1994 provides for reservation of seats for the offices of Sarpanches. Under the said provisions, a notification dated 9.5.2003 (Annexure P-1) was issued, reserving the office of Sarpanch for Gram Panchayhat, village Bhagthala Kalan for women category. Respondent No. 4 was elected to the office of Panch against the reserved seat of Scheduled Caste Women. In our opinion, all the women, who have been elected as Panches of Gram Panchayat, village Bhagthala Kalan either from the reserved category or from general category are eligible to contest the election of the office of Sarpanch, which has been reserved for women. 4. The contention of the petitioner is that since the office of Sarpanch has been reserved for general women, therefore, only the Panch, who has been elected as panch against the category of general women is eligible to contest the election of Sarpanch. In our opinion, this contention cannot be accepted. 4. The contention of the petitioner is that since the office of Sarpanch has been reserved for general women, therefore, only the Panch, who has been elected as panch against the category of general women is eligible to contest the election of Sarpanch. In our opinion, this contention cannot be accepted. The Government of Punjab, vide a Memo dated 27.5.2008 has already issued a clarification to the effect that the Panches belonging directly to reserved category, can contest-the election for other categories viz. Panch belonging to Scheduled Caste women category can contest the election for scheduled caste, women category and general category. Similarly, the Panch of Scheduled Caste Category can contest the election of Sarpanch for General Category and General Women Panch can contest the election against the General Category. 5. A similar question has also been answered by the Supreme Court in Kasambhai F. Ghanchi v. Chandubhai D. Rajput and Ors. (1998-2)119 P.L.R. 611, where the question was whether a candidate who belongs to a Backward Class, but has been elected from an unreserved seat, could stand for election for the post of President of the Municipality which was reserved for a Backward Class candidate or whether the candidate for the post could only be a person who was elected to the Municipality from a seat which was reserved for the Backward Class. The Supreme Court, while answering the said question, observed that all the members of the Municipality, irrespective of the fact whether they had been elected to a reserved seat or not, are eligible for election to the post of the President when it falls in the general category. 6. Similarly, when as per the roster the President is to be one who, say belongs to the category of Scheduled Caste, then all the members of the Municipality who are Scheduled Caste, irrespective of the seat to which they had been elected, would be eligible to stand for election. Neither the Act nor the rules stipulate that it is only such a member, who has been elected to the reserved seat, would be eligible to stand for election to the post of President when it is the turn of that category of candidate to become the President of the Municipality. 7. Neither the Act nor the rules stipulate that it is only such a member, who has been elected to the reserved seat, would be eligible to stand for election to the post of President when it is the turn of that category of candidate to become the President of the Municipality. 7. Thus, in our opinion, respondent No. 4 though she was elected to the office of Panch against the reserved category of Scheduled Caste women, being a woman, was fully eligible to contest the election of Sarpanch, which is reserved for women. Therefore, we do not find any merit in the instant writ petition.