EC should go by the mandate of Constitution: SC

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) The Supreme Court has held that reservation for SC/STs in any constituency must be in proportion with their percentage of population in a state and the Election Commission (EC) cannot go beyond the mandate of the Constitution.

A Bench, comprising Justices A K Mathur and Markandey Katju, while disposing of a petition filed by two voters of Dharchula assembly constituency in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district, observed ''it should be made clear that the mandate of article 332 (3) of the Constitution should always be kept in mind and the provision mandates that the reservation must be made in proportiopn to the population of the SC/STs of the state.'' A dispute had arisen when the Government increased the seats for STs from two to three vide notification dated November 5, 2000. The notification was challenged on the grounds that the population of STs in the state was only 3 per cent and hence there was no need to increase the number of seats.

The EC had since reduced the seats to two on its own.

The court said, ''We need not make any observation but the consideration for increasing the seats of STs from two to three was not at all warranted. Therefore, we hope and trust that when any notification is issued, the EC will confine itself to the mandate of the Constitution and will not swayed by any other consideration.'' UNI

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