The law fixes matriculation as essential qualification for candidates contesting polls.
The law fixes matriculation as essential qualification for candidates contesting polls.
New Delhi:
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validity of the Haryana law specifying minimum educational qualifications and other criteria for candidates to contest Panchayat elections in the state.
The Haryana government in September had rushed to the court, seeking an urgent hearing on the entire issue saying the stay on the recent amendments in the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015 amounts to -"virtually-" staying the election process in the state.
The court earlier had stayed the provisions prescribing minimum educational qualifications for panchayat polls contestants after the petitioner alleged that the Act had discriminatory provisions that restrain persons from contesting elections on ground of educational qualifications.
The amended law fixes matriculation as essential qualification for general candidates contesting the panchayat elections, while the qualification for women (general) and Scheduled Caste candidates has been fixed at Class VIII.
However, in case of a woman candidate belonging to SC category contesting election for the post of Panch, the minimum qualification would be Class V pass, the law says.
The amended law was passed on the concluding day of the Monsoon session of Haryana Assembly this September.
The lawyer for the petitioner said that 83 per cent of Dalit women and 71 per cent women in general and 56 per cent men would be excluded from contesting the panchayat polls by this law, which affected fundamental rights of the candidates.
