The Haryana government will inform the Supreme Court on Tuesday (22 September) whether it was inclined to drop educational qualification as an eligibility criteria for the candidates aspiring to contest Panchayat elections.
Elections to Panchayats in the state are due and the process commenced on September 8.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Monday (21 September 2015) told the apex court bench of Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre that they would get back with their response as they found the court had “serious” reservation on the criteria providing for matriculation qualification for the candidates.
The Haryana Panchayati Raj law provides besides education, grounds of criminal background, bank arrears and toilets as eligibility criteria for the candidates aspiring to contest the Panchayat election.
The court had stayed the amended provisions of the Haryana Panchayati Raj law on September 17.
[See also: (1) Educational qualification for panchayat poll – SC to hear Haryana plea on 21 September; (2) SC stays Haryana law on educational bar for panchayat polls.]
Under the amended law – the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act 2015, a person from the general category aspiring to contest the election should have passed class 10 and those belonging to Dalit community should have passed class 8.
“We have serious doubts atleast so far as educational qualification is concerned. We are worried about it,” said Justice Chelameswar adjourning the hearing so that the attorney general could take instruction from Haryana government.
The Haryana Panchayati Raj law provides besides education, grounds of criminal background, bank arrears and toilets as eligibility criteria for the candidates aspiring to contest the panchayat elections. The court had stayed the amended provisionson September 17.
The court said that educational qualification as a criteria for contesting election was discriminatory under the constitution’s article 14 guaranteeing equal opportunity.
The court said that educational qualification has taken away more than 50 percent of the rural population from the ambit of becoming candidates, as it wondered that when there is no requirement of educational qualification for becoming law maker in parliaments or state legislatures but the same is being insisted upon for panchayat elections.
As Rohatgi said it has created a peculiar situation where for the first three days, nominations for the phase one elections of the panchayats were filed on the basis of educational qualification and for the remaining two days, on the earlier law, the court said that it has a way out. If both the petitioners and the Haryana government agree to postpone the elections, then, in a week’s time, the court would hear the matter, it said.
Realising the mood of the court, Rohatgi first offered four weeks adjournment of the panchayat election but then said that elections could be held by putting on hold the requirement of educational qualification.
As he said that he would seek instructions from the state government, senior counsel Rajinder Sachhar said that there has to be clarity on the mandatory toilet clause as a qualification for contesting elections.
Allowing the AG to take instructions, the court said that one of the factor that weighed with it that the matter of similar educational qualification in Rajasthan has not been settled so far.
The court was moved by the Communist Party of India-Marxist-affiliated All India Democratic Women Association, Rajbala and others.
