EC should go by the mandate of Constitution: SC
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