Karnataka High Court
Sri. S. V. Naveenakumar vs The State Of Karnataka on 10 July, 2023
Author: R Devdas
Bench: R Devdas
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NC: 2023:KHC:23793
WP No. 13387 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
DATED THIS THE 10TH DAY OF JULY, 2023
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R DEVDAS
WRIT PETITION NO. 13387 OF 2023 (LB-ELE)
BETWEEN:
SRI. S. V. NAVEENAKUMAR
S/O LATE VENKATARAMANAPPA,
AGED ABOUT 46 YEARS,
R/AT DOOR NO. 363,
M.G. ROAD,
SARJAPURA VILLAGE POST,
NEAR SHAMBULINGESHWAR TEMPLE,
ANEKAL TALUK,
BANGALORE-562 125.
GRAMA PANCHAYATH MEMBER,
1ST WARD, SARJAPUR GRAMA PANCHAYATH,
ELECTED DURING 2021.
...PETITIONER
(BY SRI. NAGARAJ D., ADVOCATE)
Digitally signed
by JUANITA
THEJESWINI AND:
Location: HIGH
COURT OF
KARNATAKA
1. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
DEPARTMENT OF PANCHAYATHRAJ
AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT,
M.S. BUILDING, DR. AMBEDKAR VEEDHI,
BANGALORE- 560 001
REP BY PRINCIPAL SECRETARY.
2. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AND DISTRICT
ELECTION OFFICER,
BANGALORE URBAN DISTRICT,
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NC: 2023:KHC:23793
WP No. 13387 of 2023
KANDAYA BHAVANA, K.G. ROAD,
BANGALORE- 560 001.
3. PANCHAYATH DEVELOPMENT OFFICER.
SARJAPUR GRAMA PANCHAYATH,
ANEKAL TALUK,
BANGALORE-562 125.
...RESPONDENTS
(BY SMT PRATHIMA HONNAPURA, AAG FOR
SRI. SANTHOSH KUMAR M.B., HCGP FOR R1 & R2)
THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 &
227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO DIRECT IN
THE NATURE OF CERTIORARI OR ANY OTHER APPROPRIATE
WRIT AS THIS HONBLE COURT DEEMS FIT, QUASH THE
NOTIFICATION BEARING NO. CHU NA (GRA.PMA) CR/02/2023-
24 DTD 21/06/2023 ISSUED BY THE R-2 U/S 44(2) OF THE
KARNATAKA PANCHAYATHRAJ ACT, 1993 VIDE ANNEXURE-A
AND ETC.,
THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ORDERS, THIS DAY,
THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:
ORDER
R.DEVDAS J., (ORAL):
The grievance of the petitioner is regarding the reservation provided in the impugned notification. It is contended that in Sarjapura constituency of Anekal Taluk, in the year 2010 the post of President was reserved for category-A, in the second half it was reserved for -3- NC: 2023:KHC:23793 WP No. 13387 of 2023 Scheduled Caste category. In the year 2015, for the first term the post of President was reserved for General (Female) and in the second half it was reserved for Scheduled Caste category. Now in the second half of the term, it is again reserved for General (Female). The grievance of the petitioner is that for the entire term of the 2015 the post of President was reserved for General (Female) and again it is repeated to General (Female) for the second half of the term 2020-2021.
2. It was pointed that in certain other constituencies like Karpuru, Marasuru which enjoyed reservation of the post of President for General category in the year 2015, again the post is sought to be reserved for General category and reservation is not rotated with the General (Female). On the other hand, the post of President is again and again sought to be reserved for General (Female) and not for General category. This, according to the learned Counsel for the petitioner, is clearly in contravention of the guidelines which provides that there -4- NC: 2023:KHC:23793 WP No. 13387 of 2023 has to be rotation in reservation, even in cases of the general category.
3. Learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the respondent-Deputy Commissioner, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of making the reservation, following the guidelines for rotation in reservation, submits on instructions, that insofar as Karpuru is concerned, the same was chosen by way of a lottery, since even as per the guidelines, even in respect of the General category, regard should be had to the total number of posts that are available for General category and priority should be given to the constituency which has got the highest number. While doing the exercise of rotation in reservation, the Deputy Commissioner encountered a situation where three constituencies were standing on equal footing viz., Vanakanahalli, Karpuru and Huskuru.
4. Learned Additional Advocate General has submitted that in the very beginning itself, that the entire -5- NC: 2023:KHC:23793 WP No. 13387 of 2023 process of rotation in reservation is now done by a computerized system which is known as 'GPPVP application'. It is submitted that the entire process has been computerized so that there is no human intervention. Even after computerization there may be certain cases where the election authority is confronted with more than one constituency standing on equal footing. Only in those circumstances, the Election Authority is permitted to use the method of lottery in terms of clause 3(vi) of the Government Order dated 25.05.2023 issued by the State Election Commission.
5. Insofar as Marasuru is concerned, the learned AAG has pointed out that in the first half of the year 2021, the post of President was reserved for Scheduled Caste (Female) and therefore, if the category is now reserved for General (Female), it would be in contravention of the guidelines, inasmuch as, there would be repetition of Female category.
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NC: 2023:KHC:23793 WP No. 13387 of 2023
6. In that view of the matter, it is submitted that there is absolutely no grievance that could be vented out by the petitioner, since the rotation in reservation is done by the Deputy Commissioner through computerized process and only in such cases where the computer system throws up certain challenges, the system of picking up the lottery is followed by the Deputy Commissioner.
7. At this juncture, learned Counsel for the petitioner seeks to place reliance on a decision of the Hon'ble Division Bench in the case of H.C.Yatheesh Kumar Vs. And Others vs. The Karnataka Election Commission and Others reported in ILR 2005 KAR 3323.
8. The learned AAG has also pointed out that in Anekal constituency there is no reservation for Backward class 'A' category and Backward class 'B' category. It is therefore submitted that the election authority is required to rotate amongst the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and General category only. It is therefore submitted that having regard to the limited scope for rotation in -7- NC: 2023:KHC:23793 WP No. 13387 of 2023 reservation, it is quite possible that there may be repetitions more often than expected.
9. In the considered opinion of this Court, things have moved on from the early days, since a computerized system is now being followed by the election authorities in the matter of rotation in reservation. Therefore, the earlier decisions may not be of much help in the present situation.
10. This Court is satisfied that the election authority has followed the computerized system in providing rotation in reservation. This court is satisfied with the explanation offered by the learned Additional Advocate General.
Consequently, the writ petition stands dismissed.
Sd/-
JUDGE JT/-