Punjab-Haryana High Court
Manjit Singh Sethi vs State Of Punjab Ors on 20 April, 2015
Author: Jaswant Singh
Bench: Jaswant Singh
CWP No.4152 of 2015 #1#
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH.
Date of Decision:-April 20th , 2015
CWP No.4152 of 2015
Manjit Singh Sethi.
......Petitioner.
Versus
State of Punjab & Ors.
......Respondents.
2
CWP No.4164 of 2015
Amrik Singh.
......Petitioner.
Versus
State of Punjab & Ors.
......Respondents.
3
CWP No.4248 of 2015
Harpal Singh.
......Petitioner.
Versus
State of Punjab & Ors.
......Respondents.
CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH
Present:- Mr. D.S. Patwalia, Senior Advocate assisted by
Mr. Kannan Malik, Advocate for Petitioner
(in CWP No.4152 of 2015).
VINAY MAHAJAN
2015.04.24 09:48
I attest to the accuracy and
authenticity of this document
at Chandigarh
CWP No.4152 of 2015 #2#
Mr. Puneet Gupta, Advocate for the Petitioner
(in CWP No.4164 of 2015).
Mr. Kanwaljit Singh, Senior Advocate assisted by
Mr. Jai Surya Jain, Advocate for the Petitioner
(in CWP No.4248 of 2015).
Mr. Ashok Aggarwal, Advocate General Punjab assisted by
Mr. Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, Addl Advocate General, Punjab
for respondents.
***
JASWANT SINGH, J.
This common order shall dispose of the aforesaid three writ petitions since they involve similar facts and identical issues for determination.
The three elected councillors of Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar,Mohali vide their aforesaid individual writ petitions are challenging the Letter dated 05.03.2015 (Annexure P-4 in CWP Nos.4152 & 4164 of 2015 & Annexure P-6 in CWP No.4248 of 2015) whereby the office of "Mayor" has been reserved to be filled up from the category of "Women" from amongst, 50 Councillors elected for Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali in elections conducted in February 2015.
Admitted facts in Brief The following facts as culled out from the writ petition and the written statement are as under:-
(1) That vide by 74th Amendment of the Constitution of India w.e.f.
1.6.1993, a new Chapter PART IX A-THE MUNICIPALITIES was incorporated adding Article 243P to 243 ZG and reservation of seats and offices of Chairpersons of Municipalities was provided in Article 243T. The relevant Clause-4 of Article 243T lays down that the office of VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #3# Chairpersons in Municipalities shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribe and Women in such manner as the State Legislature may by law provide. The same reads as under:-
" The offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide."
(2) To give effect to the constitutional mandate providing for reservation to the stated categories for the office of Chairpersons in the Municipal Corporations established in the State of Punjab, the legislature has inserted Section 6-A in the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 (for short the 1976 Corporation Act) by the Act No.12 of 1994.
As per the scheme of the 1976 Corporation Act, the total number of Councillors to be elected from various wards in Municipal Corporation are determined under Sub Section 3 of Section 5, and the reservation of seats for election of councillors from the categories of Scheduled Castes, Backward Class, Women etc., by rotation as laid down under Section 6 of the 1976 Corporation Act.
The relevant Section 6 & 6-A of the 1976 Corporation Act providing for reservation of seats in the office of Chairperson in the Municipal Corporation reads as under:-
"6. Reservation of Seats - In every Corporation, out of total number of elected Councillors determined under sub-
section (3) or s.5, the Government shall reserve,-
(a) Such number of seats for the Scheduled Castes as may be determined by it subject to the condition that the VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #4# number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the Corporation as the population of Scheduled Castes in that City bears to the total population of that City and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different wards in the City; and
(b) two seats in each corporation for the members of the Backward Classes, and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different wards in that corporation.
(2) Not less than one third of the total number of seats reserved under Clause (a), shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes.
(3) Not less than one third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes), of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election, shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different wards in the City.
Explanation:- In this Section the expression,-
(a) "Scheduled Castes" shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in Clause (24) of Article 366 of the Constitution of India; and
(b) "Backward Classes" means the Backward Classes as the Government may, from time to time declare by issuing a Notification in the Official Gazette. 6-A. Reservation for the Offices of Chairperson Offices of Mayors of Corporations shall be reserved by VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #5# rotation in the prescribed manner for the members of the Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Women in the following ratio, namely:-
(a) five per cent for Scheduled Castes;
(b) two per cent for Backward Classes; and
(c) five per cent for women including women belonging to
the Scheduled Castes. "
A bare perusal of the aforesaid Sections makes its clear that the aforesaid Section 6-A lays down reservation by rotation in the ratio of (i) 5% for Scheduled Castes; (ii) 5% reservation for women & (iii) 2% reservation for Backward Class in the office of Mayors of a Municipal Corporation, and the manner of enforcing the same has to be prescribed by framing of Rules.
(3) To enforce the reservation for the office of Mayors of Corporation as provided under Section 6-A, the Reservation in the office of Mayors of Corporation Rules 1996 (for short the "1996 Corporation Rules") have been framed, which read as under:-
"1. Short title and commencement.-(1) These rules may be called the Reservation for the Offices of Mayors of Corporations Rules, 1996.
(2) They shall come into force at once.
2. Reservation for the Offices of Mayors.-(1) Out of hundred offices of Mayors of the Corporations falling vacant in elections conducted from time to time, the offices occurring at Serial nos.10, 32, 51, 70 and 95 shall be reserved for the members of Scheduled Castes and the offices occurring at serial numbers 14, 34, 53, 75 and 93 shall be reserved for women including women belonging to Scheduled Castes.
Similarly, the offices occurring at serial numbers 18 and 77 shall be reserved for the members of Backward Classes. (2) The reservation referred to in sub-rule(1), shall be effected in the manner as indicated in the Schedule appended VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #6# to these rules.
3. On filling up of hundred offices of Mayors as specified in rule 2, the process of giving this reservation shall continue for further election also.
Explanation.- For the purpose of sub-rule(1) the expression 'Election' shall mean the general election held after the completion of duration of five years of a Corporation.
SCHEDULE [See rule 2(2)] Reservation of offices of Mayors in Corporation S.No. Name of the Number of Offices of Mayors reserved for Corporation Elections Scheduled Castes, Women and Backward Classes
1. Amritsar Ist Election
2. Jalandhar Ist Election
3. Ludhiana Ist Election
4. Amritsar 2nd Election
5. Jalandhar 2nd Election
6. Ludhiana 2nd Election
7. Amritsar 3rd Election
8. Jalandhar 3rd Election
9. Ludhiana 3rd Election
10. Amritsar 4th Election At point No. 10 Amritsar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
11. Jalandhar 4th Election
12. Ludhiana 4th Election
13. Amritsar 5th Election
14. Jalandhar 5th Election At point No. 14 Jalandhar has been reserved for Women
15. Ludhiana 5th Election
16. Amritsar 6th Election
17. Jalandhar 6th Election
18. Ludhiana 6th Election At point No. 18 Ludhiana has been reserved for Backward Classes
19. Amritsar 7th Election
20. Jalandhar 7th Election
21. xx xx xxxx
22. xx xx xxxx
23. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #7#
24. xx xx xxxx
25. xx xx xxxx
26. xx xx xxxx
27. xx xx xxxx
28. xx xx xxxx
29. xx xx xxxx
30. xx xx xxxx
31. xx xx xxxx
32. Jalandhar 11th Election At point no.32 Jalandhar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes.
33. Ludhiana 11th Election
34. Amritsar 12th Election At point No.34 Amritsar has been reserved for Women
35. xx xx xxxx
36. xx xx xxxx
37. xx xx xxxx
38. xx xx xxxx
39. xx xx xxxx
40. xx xx xxxx
41. xx xx xxxx
42. xx xx xxxx
43. xx xx xxxx
44. xx xx xxxx
45. xx xx Xxxx
46. xx xx xxxx
47. xx xx xxxx
48. xx xx xxxx
49. xx xx xxxx
50. xx xx xxxx
51. Ludhiana 17th Election A point no.51 Ludhiana has been reserved for Scheduled Castes.
52. Amritsar 18th Election
53. Jalandhar 18th Election At Point 53 Jalandhar has been reserved for Women
54. xx xx xxxx
55. xx xx xxxx
56. xx xx xxxx
57. xx xx xxxx
58. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN
59. xx xx xxxx 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #8#
60. xx xx xxxx
61. xx xx xxxx
62. xx xx xxxx
63. xx xx xxxx
64. xx xx xxxx
65. xx xx xxxx
66. xx xx xxxx
67. xx xx xxxx
68. xx xx xxxx
69. xx xx xxxx
70. Amritsar 24th Election At point No. 70 Amritsar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
71. xx xx xxxx
72. xx xx xxxx
73. xx xx xxxx
74. xx xx xxxx
75. Ludhiana 25th Election At point No. 75 Ludhiana has been reserved for Women
76. xx xx xxxx
77. Jalandhar 26th Election At point no. 77 Jalandhar has been reserved for Backward Classes
78. xx xx xxxx
79. xx xx xxxx
80. xx xx xxxx
81. xx xx xxxx
82. xx xx xxxx
83. xx xx xxxx
84. xx xx xxxx
85. xx xx xxxx
86. xx xx xxxx
87. xx xx xxxx
88. xx xx xxxx
89. xx xx xxxx
90. xx xx xxxx
91. xx xx xxxx
92. xx xx xxxx
93. Ludhiana 31st Election At point No. 93 Ludhiana has been reserved for women
94. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #9#
95. Jalandhar 32nd Election At point No. 95 Jalandhar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
96. xx xx xxxx
97. xx xx xxxx
98. xx xx xxxx
99. xx xx xxxx
100. xx xx xxxx
101. xx xx xxxx
102. Ludhiana 34th Election Reading of Rule 2(1) of the 1996 Corporation Rules reveals that it was contemplated that out of 100 offices of Mayors falling vacant in elections conducted from time to time, the offices occurring at 5 stated serial numbers each were to be reserved for the members of "Scheduled Castes" and for "Women" and at the two stated serial numbers to be reserved for members of "Backward Class". The manner of implementing the reservation referred to in Rule 2(1) was provided in the Schedule prepared under Rule 2(2). Since by that time three Municipal Corporations, namely, Amritsar (constituted on 29.03.1975), Jalandhar (constituted on 5.7.1977) & Ludhiana (constituted on 5.12.1975) were existing, the reservation was implemented by naming the particular Corporation in the Schedule. It transpires that the corporations were placed in a alphabetic order and not according to the dates of their constitution/creation. It is admitted that the first election after the promulgation of 1996 Corporation Rules were held on 28.5.1997 and Mayors were elected for the existing Municipal Corporation of Amritsar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. (4) Thereafter Municipal Corporation Patiala was constituted on 24.09.1997 necessitating the amendment of the 1996 Rules. The amendment to Rule 2(1) as well as the Schedule appended to Rule 2(2) was made vide Notification dated 29.04.1999. The relevant portion reads as VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #10# under:-
"Rule 2. In the reservation for the offices of Mayors of the Corporations Rules, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in rule 2, for sub rule (1) the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:-
"(1) Out of the hundred offices of Mayors of the Corporations falling vacant in elections conducted from time to time, the offices occurring at Serial Numbers 13, 36, 54, 79 & 94 shall be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes and the offices occurring at serial numbers 18, 37, 59, 81 and 100 shall be reserved for women including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes. Similarly, the offices occurring at serial numbers 23 & 76 shall be reserved for the members of the Backward Classes.
3. In the said rules, for existing Schedule, the following Schedule shall be substituted, namely:-
SCHEDULE [See rule 2(2)] Reservation of offices of Mayors in Corporation S.No. Name of Number of Offices of Mayors reserved for the Elections Scheduled Castes, Women and Corporatio Backward Classes n
1. Amritsar Ist Election
2. Jalandhar Ist Election
3. Ludhiana Ist Election
4. Patiala 1st Election
5. Amritsar 2nd Election
6. Jalandhar 2nd Election
7. Ludhiana 2nd Election
8. Patiala 2nd Election
9. xx xx xxxx
10. xx xx xxxx
11. xx xx xxxx
12. xx xx xxxx
13. Amritsar 4th Election At point No. 13 Amritsar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
14. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #11#
15. xx xx xxxx
16. xx xx xxxx
17. xx xx xxxx
18. Jalandhar 5th Election At point No. 18 Jalandhar has been reserved for Women
19. xx xx xxxx
20. xx xx xxxx
21. xx xx xxxx
22. xx xx xxxx
23. Ludhiana 6th Election At point No. 23 Ludhiana has been reserved for Backward Classes
24. xx xx xxxx
25. xx xx xxxx
26. xx xx xxxx
27. xx xx xxxx
28. xx xx xxxx
29. xx xx xxxx
30. xx xx xxxx
31. xx xx xxxx
32. xx xx xxxx
33. xx xx xxxx
34. xx xx xxxx
35. xx xx xxxx
36. Patiala 9th Election At point No. 36 Patiala has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
37. Amritsar 10th Election At point No. 37 Amritsar has been reserved for Women
38. xx xx xxxx
39. xx xx xxxx
40. xx xx xxxx
41. xx xx xxxx
42. xx xx xxxx
43. xx xx xxxx
44. xx xx xxxx
45. xx xx xxxx
46. xx xx xxxx
47. xx xx xxxx
48. xx xx xxxx
49. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN
50. xx xx xxxx 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #12#
51. xx xx xxxx
52. xx xx xxxx
53. xx xx xxxx
54. Jalandhar 14th Election At point No. 54 Jalandhar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
55. xx xx xxxx
56. xx xx xxxx
57. xx xx xxxx
58. xx xx xxxx
59. Ludhiana 15th Election At point No. 59 Ludhiana has been reserved for Women
60. xx xx xxxx
61. xx xx xxxx
62. xx xx xxxx
63. xx xx xxxx
64. xx xx xxxx
65. xx xx xxxx
66. xx xx xxxx
67. xx xx xxxx
68. xx xx xxxx
69. xx xx xxxx
70. xx xx xxxx
71. xx xx xxxx
72. xx xx xxxx
73. xx xx xxxx
74. xx xx xxxx
75. xx xx xxxx
76. Patiala 19th Election At point No. 76 Patiala has been reserved for Backward Classes
77. xx xx xxxx
78. xx xx xxxx
79. Ludhiana 20th Election At point No. 79 Ludhiana has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
80. xx xx xxxx
81. Amritsar 21st Election At point No. 81 Amritsar has been reserved for Women
82. xx xx xxxx
83. xx xx xxxx
84. xx xx xxxx
85. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #13#
86. xx xx xxxx
87. xx xx xxxx
88. xx xx xxxx
89. xx xx xxxx
90. xx xx xxxx
91. xx xx xxxx
92. xx xx xxxx
93. xx xx xxxx
94. Jalandhar 24th Election At point No. 94 Jalandhar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
95. xx xx xxxx
96. xx xx xxxx
97. xx xx xxxx
98. xx xx xxxx
99. xx xx xxxx
100. Patiala 25th Election At point no. 100 Patiala has been reserved for Women "
Perusal of the above shows that an amendment to Rule 2(1) itself was also made thereby changing the reserved points earmarked for various categories apart from inserting MC, Patiala in the roster for reservation for the office of Mayors. It is admitted that the elections on the basis of aforesaid roster for the four existing Municipal Corporations were held on 27.04.2002.
(5) Thereafter Bathinda Municipal Corporation was constituted on 10.04.2003 and the 1996 Corporation Rules were further amended vide notification dated 19.07.2007. Sub Rule 1 of Rule 2 as well as the Schedule attached to Rule 2(2) was amended which read as under:-
"2. In the reservation for the offices of Mayors of the Corporations Rules, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in rule 2, for sub rule (1) the following sub-rule shall be VINAY MAHAJAN substituted, namely:-2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh
CWP No.4152 of 2015 #14#
(1) Out of the hundred offices of Mayors of the
Corporations falling vacant in elections conducted from time to time shall be reserved for the members of the Scheduled Castes and the offices occurring at serial numbers 10, 36, 54, 77 and 93 shall be reserved for the members of Scheduled Castes, and the offices occurring at serial numbers 17, 43, 64, 85 and 96 shall be reserved for women including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes. Similarly, the offices occurring at Serial numbers 24 & 81 shall be reserved for the members of the Backward Classes.
SCHEDULE [See rule 2(2)] Reservation of offices of Mayors in Corporation S.No. Name of the Number of Offices of Mayors reserved for Corporation Elections Scheduled Castes, Women and Backward Classes
1. Amritsar Ist Election
2. Jalandhar Ist Election
3. Ludhiana Ist Election
4. Patiala 1st Election
5. Bathinda 1st Election
6. Amritsar 2nd Election
7. Jalandhar 2nd Election
8. Ludhiana 2nd Election
9. Patiala 2nd Election
10. Bathinda 2nd Election At point No. 10 Bathinda has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
11. Amritsar 3rd Election
12. Jalandhar 3rd Election
13. Ludhiana 3rd Election
14. Patiala 3rd Election
15. Bathinda 3rd Election VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #15#
16. Amritsar 4th Election
17. Jalandhar 4th Election At point No. 17 Jalandhar has been reserved for Women
18. Ludhiana 4th Election
19. Patiala 4th Election
20. Bathinda 4th Election
21. Amritsar 5th Election
22. Jalandhar 5th Election
23. Ludhiana 5th Election
24. Patiala 5th Election At point No. 24 Patiala has been reserved for Backward Classes
25. xx xx xxxx
26. xx xx xxxx
27. xx xx xxxx
28. xx xx xxxx
29. xx xx xxxx
30. xx xx xxxx
31. xx xx xxxx
32. xx xx xxxx
33. xx xx xxxx
34. xx xx xxxx
35. xx xx xxxx
36. Amritsar 8th Election At point No. 36 Amritsar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
37. xx xx xxxx
38. xx xx xxxx
39. xx xx xxxx
40. xx xx xxxx
41. xx xx xxxx
42. xx xx xxxx
43. Ludhiana 9th Election At Point No. 43 Ludhiana has been reserved for Women
44. xx xx xxxx
45. xx xx xxxx
46. xx xx xxxx
47. xx xx xxxx
48. xx xx xxxx
49. xx xx xxxx
50. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN
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52. xx xx xxxx
53. xx xx xxxx
54. Patiala 11th At point No. 54 Patiala has been Election reserved for Scheduled Castes
55. xx xx xxxx
56. xx xx xxxx
57. xx xx xxxx
58. xx xx xxxx
59. xx xx xxxx
60. xx xx xxxx
61. xx xx xxxx
62. xx xx xxxx
63. xx xx xxxx
64. Patiala 13th Election At point No. 64 Patiala has been reserved for Women
65. xx xx xxxx
66. xx xx xxxx
67. xx xx xxxx
68. xx xx xxxx
69. xx xx xxxx
70. xx xx xxxx
71. Amritsar 15th Election At Point No. 71 Amritsar has been reserved for Backward Classes
72. xx xx xxxx
73. xx xx xxxx
74. xx xx xxxx
75. xx xx xxxx
76. xx xx xxxx
77. Jalandhar 16th Election At Point No. 77 Jalandhar has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
78. xx xx xxxx
79. xx xx xxxx
80. xx xx xxxx
81. xx xx xxxx
82. xx xx xxxx
83. xx xx xxxx
84. xx xx xxxx
85. Bathinda 17th Election At Point No. 85 Bathinda has been reserved for Women
86. xx xx xxxx VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #17#
87. xx xx xxxx
88. xx xx xxxx
89. xx xx xxxx
90. xx xx xxxx
91. xx xx xxxx
92. xx xx xxxx
93. Ludhiana 19th Election At point No. 93 Ludhiana has been reserved for Scheduled Castes
94. xx xx xxxx
95. xx xx Xxxx
96. Amritsar 20th Election At point No. 96 Amritsar has been reserved for Women
97. xx xx xxxx
98. xx xx xxxx
99. xx xx xxxx
100. xx xx xxxx "
A perusal of the same shows that the reserved points earmarked for the categories were yet again changed. The elections to the Municipal Corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala on the basis of the amended Rules w.e.f. 19.07.2007 were held on 8.8.2007, whereas election for office of Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Bathinda were held in the year 2008.
(6) Thereafter Municipal Corporation for SAS Nagar, Mohali was constituted on 19.01.2011, Moga, Pathankot, Phagwara on 26.7.2011.
Accordingly, vide notification dated 01.06.2012 (R-4) an amendment to the 1996 Corporation Rules was made whereby only the Schedule was amended, which reads as under:-
RULES "1. (1) These Rules may be called the Reservation for the Offices of Mayors of Corporations (First Amendment) Rules, 2012.VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh
CWP No.4152 of 2015 #18# (2) They shall come into force on and with effect from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Reservation for the Offices of Mayors of Corporations Rules, 1996, for the existing Schedule, the following Schedule shall be substituted, namely:-
SCHEDULE [See rule 2(2)] Reservation of offices of Mayors in Corporation Roster Point No. Offices of Mayors reserved for Scheduled Castes, Women and Backward Classes
1. General
2. General
3. General
4. General
5. General
6. General
7. General
8. General
9. General
10. Reserved for Scheduled Castes
11. General
12. General
13. General
14. General
15. General
16. General
17. Reserved for Women
18. General
19. General
20. General
21. General
22. General
23. General
24. Reserved for Backward Classes
25. General
26. General
27. General
28. General VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #19#
29. General
30. General
31. General
32. General
33. General
34. General
35. General
36. Reserved for Scheduled Castes
37. General
38. General
39. General
40. General
41. General
42. General
43. Reserved for Women
44. General
45. General
46. General
47. General
48. General
49. General
50. General
51. General
52. General
53. General
54. Reserved for Scheduled Castes
55. General
56. General
57. General
58. General
59. General
60. General
61. General
62. General
63. General
64. Reserved for Women
65. General
66. General VINAY MAHAJAN 67. General 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #20#
68. General
69. General
70. General
71. General
72. General
73. General
74. General
75. General
76. General
77. Reserved for Scheduled Castes
78. General
79. General
80. General
81. Reserved for Backward Classes
82. General
83. General
84. General
85. Reserved for Women
86. General
87. General
88. General
89. General
90. General
91. General
92. General
93. Reserved for Scheduled Castes
94. General
95. General
96. Reserved for Women
97. General
98. General
99. General
100. General "
It is apparent from the above that the Schedule was amended with the reservation provided by running roster points identified by keeping VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #21# in view the number of vacancies falling for election to a Municipal Corporation from time to time instead of the Corporation by name since it is stated that constitution of new Corporations every time required an amendment to incorporate their name in the Schedule, as had been done vide amendments carried out in 1999 and 2007. Thus vide the amendment dated 1.6.2012 the roster point was assigned by number in order to avoid any further amendments after the constitution of new Corporation. In fact a new Municipal Corporation of Hoshiarpur was constituted on 17.9.2013 requiring no further amendment. It is further a matter of record that after this amendment w.e.f. 1.6.2012, the general elections in the year 2012 for Municipal Corporations were held only for Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala on expiry of their five year term, although four new corporations had been established in the year 2011 raising the number of Corporations to
09. (7) That the government after determining the number of elected councillors for a corporation by exercising powers under Section 5(3) and providing for reservations of the seats for Municipal Corporations vide Annexure R-5, issued a notification dated 16.12.2014 regarding holding of general elections by end of February 2015 to elect members of six Municipal Corporations of Pathankot, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Moga and Bathinda.
Elections to the stated 06 Municipal Corporations by direct elections were held on 22.02.2015 and result declared on 26.02.2015, wherein the petitioners have been elected as councillors from different wards for the Municipal Corporation SAS Nagar, Mohali.
(8) The admitted position regarding the earmarked vacancies
VINAY MAHAJAN
2015.04.24 09:48
I attest to the accuracy and
authenticity of this document
at Chandigarh
CWP No.4152 of 2015 #22#
falling for reservation for the office of Chairperson/Mayor of Municipal Corporations amongst Scheduled Caste, Women and Backward Class as per the Schedule of 1996 Corporation Rules, as amended from time to time are as under:-
Under 1996 Rules Under 1999 Amended Rules Under 2007 Amended Rules SC Women BC SC Women BC SC Women BC 10 13 10 14 18 17 18 23 24 32 86 36 34 37 43 51 54 54 53 59 64 70 76 77 75 79 81 77 81 85 93 94 93 95 100 96 The admitted position is that as per the amendment to the 1996 Corporation Rules vide Notification dated 1.6.2012, the reservation points (named as roster points) to be filled up from the respective reserved categories has remained the same till now as per amendment under 2007 Rules.
(9) There is no dispute that the following Municipal Corporations in the State of Punjab have been constituted on the dates as mentioned below:-
Sr. No. Name of Corporation Date of Constitution 1 Amritsar 29.03.1975 2 Ludhiana 05/12/75 3 Jalandhar 05/07/77 4 Patiala 24.09.1997 5 Bathinda 10/04/03 6 S.A.S. Nagar 19.01.2011 7 Moga 26.07.2011 8 Pathankot 26.07.2011 9 Phagwara 26.07.2011 VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #23# Sr. No. Name of Corporation Date of Constitution 10 Hoshiarpur 17.09.2013 (10) It is also not in dispute that after the promulgation of 1996 Corporation Rules till the recently held elections on 22.2.2015 for Municipal Corporations, 22 vacancies for election to the office of Mayor of a Municipal Corporation have fallen vacant. The position regarding election to the various Municipal Corporations in various year is as under:-
Sr. No. Name of Municipal Corporation Number of Elections Held 1997 Elections 1 Amritsar 2 Jalandhar 03 Elections 3 Ludhiana 2002 Elections 4 Amritsar 5 Jalandhar 6 Ludhiana 04 Elections 7 Patiala 2007 Elections 8 Amritsar 9 Jalandhar 10 Ludhiana 04 Elections 11 Patiala 2008 Elections 12 Bathinda 01 Election 2012 Elections 13 Amritsar 14 Jalandhar 15 Ludhiana 04 Elections 16 Patiala 2015 Elections 17 S.A.S. Nagar 18 Moga 19 Pathankot 06 Elections 20 Phagwara 21 Hoshiarpur 22 Bathinda Total Elections Held 22 VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #24# (11) That after the elections have been conducted, and the councillors elected on 25.02.2015 and notified to the six stated Municipal Corporations impugned letter dated 5.3.2015 (P-4) has been issued whereby according to the provisions contained in the Schedule under Rule 2 of the Municipal Corporation Rules 1996 (as amended on 01.06.2012), the office of Mayor for different categories have been reserved as under:-
(a) M.C. Bathinda :- Scheduled Caste
(b) M.C. SAS Nagar :- Women Mohali (12) It also cannot be disputed that the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda was upgraded/constituted on 10.04.2003 and the first election for same was held in the year 2008 although it could have been very well held in the general elections conducted in the year 2007 for the four Municipal Corporations. It also cannot be disputed that at the time of general elections 2007 and elections for Bathinda Municipal Corporation conducted in the year 2008, as per the amended Schedule w.e.f. 19.07.2007, the reservation for the office of Mayor against the 10th reserved point was meant for Scheduled Castes and assigned to MC, Bathinda. The said reservation made for Scheduled Castes and assigned to MC, Bathinda was, however, never implemented. The said illegality was never challenged till the filing of the CWP No.24010 of 2014 Amandeep Singh Sohi Vs. State of Punjab before this Court after a delay of 6/7 years, seeking the implementation of the mandate of the Constitution providing for reservation. The said writ petition was disposed of vide order dated 25.11.2014 to decide the pending representation of the petitioner therein.
It appears that vide letter dated 5.3.2015 (P-4) reservation meant for Scheduled Caste category against reserved point no.10 has now VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #25# been assigned to MC, Bathinda by adopting a carry forward formula, although in law, in the prima facie opinion of this Court, roster point 10 would deem to have been exhausted at that stage and there being no provisions for carrying forward of any roster point, the reservation meant for scheduled caste against reserved point 10 could not now be assigned to any Municipality, however, since the same is not the subject matter of challenge before this Court, the question is not being gone into. (13) It is apparent that in the elections held in February 2015, the vacancies from roster point 17 to 22 of the Schedule as per amendment in the year 2012 were to be filled up, by placing the Municipal Corporations facing elections in some inter se order for identifying the Municipal Corporations falling under reservation category against roster point no.17, since the amended Schedule is silent in that regard.
As per the stand of the respondents in the written statement, for reserving the office of Mayor falling at roster point no.17 newly constituted Municipal Corporations were placed in order of their Constitution and SAS Nagar, Mohali coming at Sr. No.17, the office of Mayor of Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali was decided to be reserved for Women as under:-
2015 Elections Name of Municipal Corporation Reservation 1 17 SAS Nagar 19.01.2011 Constituted Women 2 18 Moga 26.07.2011 Constituted 3 19 Pathankot 26.07.2011 Constituted 4 20 Phagwara 26.07.2011 Constituted 5 21 Hoshiarpur 17.09.2013 Constituted 6 22 Bathinda July 2013 (election due) Scheduled Caste (Note: Office of Mayor reserved for Scheduled Castes against Sr. No.10 being the 2nd Election of this Corporation) CONTENTIONS & CONCLUSION VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #26# (14) Learned Counsel for the petitioners has raised two fold arguments. Firstly, it is submitted that the 17th Vacancy/Roster Point reserved for "Women Category" to be filled up for the office of Mayor of a Municipal Corporation, cannot be assigned to Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali as per hitherto followed criteria under the Corporation Rules 1996 (as amended from time to time) by inter se placement of corporation facing general elections in an alphabetic order. It is further added for the sake of arguments that even if the date of incorporation of a Municipal Corporation is adopted as the alternative criteria, even then MC, Bathinda amongst six corporations being established prior to SAS Nagar, Mohali would fall on the 17th Vacancy reserved for category of women.
The second argument is that the action of assigning the 17th vacancy to SAS Nagar, Mohali for Women suffers from vice of arbitrariness and thus violative of Article 14 of the Constitution as the said assignment is motivated and has been made on a cooked up criterion as an afterthought pursuant to the complete knowledge and analysis of the elected councillors of the ruling party after the declaration of the result of the elections to the six municipal corporations. It is in this background contended that as per settled law the Executive action has to be rationale, reasonable, fair and above all uniform and thus the letter dated 5.3.2015 (P-4) assigning the Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali to be reserved for Women category against the roster point 17 is liable to be set aside.
On the other hand learned Advocate General, Punjab submits that the logic behind assigning the 17th roster point to SAS Nagar, Mohali is based on first placing the newly constituted corporation as per their individual dates of establishment above the already existing Municipal VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #27# Corporations of Bathinda since 2003. The said logic cannot be considered as perverse or even unreasonable warranting interference by this Court. (15) After hearing learned Counsel for the parties and perusing the paper book it is apparent that the point involved for determination is extremely short i.e. whether in the facts of the case the 17th vacancy reserved for "women category" for filling up the office of Mayor of Municipal Corporation can be assigned to Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali. The answer, in the considered opinion of this Court is in the "negative". (16) The method of implementing the reservation for the office of Mayors of Corporation amongst the categories is provided in the schedule appended to Rule 2 (2) of 1996 Corporation Rules. In the said Schedule at the time of enforcing of the 1996 Corporation Rules, there were 3 existing Municipal Corporations, namely, Amritsar , Jalandhar and Ludhiana. They were placed in a block of three and in inter se order probably in a alphabetic manner since concededly the date of creation of Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar is later than Ludhiana. That Block was rotated over a running roster of 100 vacancies, and the reserved points earmarked as identified under Rule 2(1) of the 1996 Corporation Rules. Thus the corporations by name came to be assigned against various reserved points, as is apparent from the reproduction of the Schedule in para 3 here above. The first election after the enforcement of the 1996 Corporation Rules were held to the three municipal corporations on 28.05.1997.
The 4th Municipal Corporation, Patiala was upgraded/constituted on 24.09.1997 and the Schedule appended to Rule 2 (2) was thus amended vide Notification dated 29.04.1999 (Annexure R-2 with the written statement). The MC, Patiala in the existing Block was put VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #28# at number 4 keeping in view the date of its creation, and the block rotated over the roster of 100 vacancies thereby again assigning the Municipal Corporations by name against roster points as is explicit from the reading of amended schedule reproduced in para 4 here above. The second general election after the enforcement of the 1996 Corporation Rules were held to the four municipal corporations on 27.04.2002.
The 5th Municipal Corporation, namely, Bathinda was upgraded/constituted on 10.04.2003 and the Schedule appended to Rule 2 (2) was thus amended vide Notification dated 19.07.2007. The MC, Bathidna in the existing block was put at number 5 keeping in view the date of its creation, and the block rotated over the roster of 100 vacancies thereby again assigning the Municipal Corporations by name against roster points as is clear from the para 5 here above. The third general election after the enforcement of the 1996 Corporation Rules were held to the four municipal corporations, namely, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala on 8.8.2007 and Bathinda in the year 2008.
It is further apparent that the 10th vacancy reserved for schedule caste was assigned to MC, Bathinda, however, for the reasons best known to the authorities, the said reservation was not implemented.
Subsequently, four more Municipal Corporations were upgraded/created i.e. SAS Nagar, Mohali on 19.01.2011 and Moga, Pathankot and Phagwara on 26.7.2011 necessitating the amended vide notification dated 1.6.2012 to the Schedule. However, the amended Schedule now provided roster points earmarked for various reserved categories instead of placing the corporations by name on that roster of 100 vacancies. This recourse was adopted to obviate the repeated amendments VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #29# to the Schedule required due to creation of new corporations. After the amendment, elections were held on 10.06.2012 to the previously existing Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala corporations on expiry of their 5 years term.
Thereafter the Municipal Corporation, Hoshiarpur has been upgraded/created on 17.09.2013 and the elections to six Municipal Corporations have been held on 22.02.2015. The said Municipal Corporations are Bathinda, SAS Nagar, Mohali, Moga, Pathankot and Hoshiarpur. It is not in dispute that the 17th vacancy for filling up office of Mayor has fallen for consideration in these elections.
The dispute of assigning the 17th vacancy to a Municipal Corporation has occurred because of the amended Schedule since 1.6.2012 being silent on assignment of a Municipal Corporation by name designed to obviate the necessity of repeated amendments due to upgradation/constitution of new corporation and their consequent inclusion as the constitution of Hoshiarpur would have required. The said assignment has been effected by the impugned Executive decision dated 5.3.2015 (P-4). (17) On a careful and close examination of the methodology envisaged for implementation of the reservation policy by rotation as per the original Schedule under the 1996 Corporation Rules and as amended in 1997 and 2007, it becomes evident that to the initial Block of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, all the subsequent Municipal Corporations have to be inter se placed keeping in view the respective dates of upgradation/creation and then the such Block rotated over a running roster of 100 vacancies thereby to identify the names of Municipal Corporations falling against different reserved points on the running roster. In the VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #30# considered opinion of the Court, the contemplated scheme of implementation of the aforesaid reservation by rotation does not admit any other interpretation. Even the case of the respondent-State is that a nameless Schedule had been provided at the time of amendment in the year 2012 with a view only to obviate the necessity of repeated amendments in the light of incorporation of new Municipal Corporations, and thus in effect conceding that the existing criteria of inter se placement of Municipal Corporations had to continue. Therefore, the position of the running roster as per Schedule, after creation of Municipal Corporation, Hoshiarpur on 17.09.2013, at the time of elections in February 2015 would be as under:-
Roster Point Name of the Number of Offices of Mayors reserved for Corporation Elections Scheduled Castes, Women and Backward Classes 1 Amritsar 1st Election 2 Jalandhar 1st Election 3 Ludhiana 1st Election 4 Patiala 1st Election 5 Bathinda 1st Election 6 SAS Nagar Mohali 1st Election 7 Moga 1st Election 8 Pathankot 1st Election 9 Phagwara 1st Election 10 Hoshiarpur 1st Election Reserved for Scheduled Castes 11 Amritsar 2nd Election 12 Jalandhar 2nd Election 13 Ludhiana 2nd Election 14 Patiala 2nd Election 15 Bathinda 2nd Election 16 SAS Nagar Mohali 2nd Election 17 Moga 2nd Election Reserved for Women 18 Pathankot 2nd Election 19 Phagwara 2nd Election 20 Hoshiarpur 2nd Election 21 Amritsar 3rd Election 22 Jalandhar 3rd Election VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #31# Roster Point Name of the Number of Offices of Mayors reserved for Corporation Elections Scheduled Castes, Women and Backward Classes 23 Ludhiana 3rd Election 24 Patiala 3rd Election Reserved for Backward Class 25 Bathinda 3rd Election 26 SAS Nagar Mohali 3rd Election 27 Moga 3rd Election 28 Pathankot 3rd Election 29 Phagwara 3rd Election 30 Hoshiarpur 3rd Election 31 Amritsar 4th Election 32 Jalandhar 4th Election 33 Ludhiana 4th Election 34 Patiala 4th Election 35 Bathinda 4th Election 36 SAS Nagar Mohali 4th Election Reserved for Scheduled Caste 37 Moga 4th Election 38 Pathankot 4th Election 39 Phagwara 4th Election 40 Hoshiarpur 4th Election 41 to 100 In a Similar Manner From the above, it thus transpires that the reservation for Women category against the 17th roster point for election for the office of Mayor would have to be assigned to Municipal Corporation, Moga and not to SAS Nagar, Mohali.
(18) The argument on behalf of the petitioners that the reservation had to be implemented by placing the Municipal Corporations in a alphabetic order is thus misconceived, although at the initial stage while formulating a Block for reservation it appears that the three Municipal Corporations of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana were placed in a alphabetic order, however, the subsequent implementation as per amended schedule does not support that plea. Similarly, the criteria adopted by the State for inter se placement of the six Municipal Corporations facing VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #32# elections in February 2015, on the running roster as per their stand is without precedence, as revealed from operation of the roster in the previous elections held as per the Schedule operating at the relevant time. The said criteria was not followed even while conducting elections to the four Municipal Corporations in the year 2012 on the basis of the nameless amended Schedule in the year 2012 (as operating now), otherwise Patiala would have been placed above Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, although it would have made no difference to the outcome as no reserve point had fallen for consideration. The adoption of such a criteria after the declaration of the result of the elected councillors to the six municipal corporations on 26.02.2015, as is reflected from the record produced in Court, lends atleast to the inference that the same is liable to abuse of discretion by adopting pick and choose method suiting the ruling party. The Government to show bona fides and transparency for maintaining the purity of elections should have formulated the criteria prior to the declaration of results Therefore, the facts cumulatively taken, the plea of the respondents that the adopted criteria of inter se placement is reasonable and thus implementing the reservation policy is declared illegal. (19) In view of the aforesaid discussion, the aforesaid three writ petitions are allowed. The reservation for the office of "Mayor" for Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, Mohali from the category of "Women" as per impugned letter dated 5.3.2015 is set aside.
It is further clarified that the intervening period since the interim order dated 10.03.2015 of stay of conduct of elections for the office of Mayor, SAS Nagar, Mohali till obtaining of the certified copy of this order shall be excluded for the purpose of time period provided for VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh CWP No.4152 of 2015 #33# convening of such a meeting under Section 38 Sub Section 2 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976.
( JASWANT SINGH ) JUDGE 20th April, 2015 Vinay VINAY MAHAJAN 2015.04.24 09:48 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this document at Chandigarh