BC census first then PR poll: HC
THE JUDGE pointed out that as per the provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act, the Directorate of Economics and Statistics has nothing to do with the enumeration of BC population and the BC Finance Corporation is the competent body to hold the survey.
In a setback to the Telangana state government, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the government to issue notification to conduct elections to Panchayat Raj institutions only after completion of the enumeration of Backward Classes voters and after publishing the figures and reserving seats for BCs.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, while dealing with two petitions by Congress leaders B. Ravindranath, Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Ayyorupalle Gram Panchayat in Karimnagar district, granted the interim order stating that the Gram Panchayat Rules 2007 relating to denotification, deletion, show cause, objections and re notification have to be followed pursuant to Section 295 of the Telangana State Panchayat Raj Act 2018.
K.S. Murthy and B. Rachna Reddy, counsels for the petitioners, submitted that the state government has initiated the process for conducting the elections to Panchayat Raj institutions in the state without counting persons belonging to the BC communities ward wise and not allotting seats reserved for BC category amongst the sub groups A, B, C, D and E.
They submitted that the Supreme Court has held that the elections to Panchayat Raj bodies be conducted only after a scientific survey of the voters belonging to BC communities and the state government has so far not conducted any such survey.
In a setback to the Telangana government, the Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to issue notification to conduct elections to Panchayat Raj institutions only after completion of the enumeration of Backward Classes voters and after publishing the figures and reserving seats for BCs.
They told the court that the state government claimed last year in the Panchayat Raj Bill that the BC population in the state is 37 per cent whereas in the comprehensive household survey it claimed that the BC population is 54 per cent.
They contended that to weed out this confusion, a scientific survey is essential and holding the election without completing the statutory requirements is illegal and it would be difficult to reserve the wards for the groups in BC without the survey.
When the judge sought a response from J. Ramachandra Rao, additional advocate general, he replied that the Directorate of Economics and Statistics had enumerated the population of the BCs in the state and the state government has those census details.
When the additional attorney general (AAG) urged the court to grant time to file a counter affidavit, the judge said that the court has no objection to granting time, and asked the AAG what would be the situation if the State Election Commission issues notification in the meantime.
When the AAG replied that the State Election Commission would be likely to issue notification at any time, the judge granted the interim order directing the state government to complete the statutory process and then issue the notification.
While adjourning the matter for four weeks, the judge directed the state government, State Election Commission and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics to file the counter affidavit.