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Carve out seats for STs in UP: SC to EC
Though late in the day to alter the poll schedule in election-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Tuesday paved the way for the Election Commission to earmark constituencies for Scheduled Tribes in the State, following a Presidential Order of 2003 that recognised 10 tribes.
The order has huge political overtones as the seats expected to be reserved as Scheduled Tribe seats were previously Scheduled Castes’ constituencies. Taking into account the latest entry of 10 tribes, the ST population in the State has risen from a mere 1 lakh to 6.5 lakh.
Deciding a petition filed by representatives of the 10 tribes accounting for 1,07,963 voters spread across 14 constituencies, the bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and SS Nijjar asked the EC to “consider” carving out constituencies for these Scheduled Tribes in areas where they are in majority. The court passed the order despite the restriction of burdening the Commission at a stage when the election process in the State is already underway.
In this task, the Commission was directed to take all possible help from the Centre and the Registrar, Census of India. Since the notification for the commencement of polls in UP is yet to be brought out, the order provides an opportunity to the EC to complete the endeavour even before the commencement of polls next month.
Since the electoral rolls were prepared based on the 2001 Census, the 10 tribes formed by a Presidential Order of 2003 arrived late in the day to claim proportional reservation. The tribes, mostly comprising Gonds, Kharwar had claimed stake of being in majority in Sonbhadra, Deoria and Balia Assembly seats.
The Election Commission, represented by advocate Meenakshi Arora, had informed the court that in the past, a similar situation arose when the Parliament by law had added castes by a Presidential Order. Though the Commission on its own had no power to make such a change, even a court order could facilitate such a move, she added. However, Arora said that the exercise of identifying and carving out constituencies required three to four months.
Attorney General GE Vahanvati, who represented the Centre, supported the demand raised by the petitioner as it was a constitutional mandate that required to be given effect. But at the same time he did not insist to put pressure on the EC and submitted that the court could ask the Commission to consider providing proportional representation to STs based on the latest figures available with the Census.
Though late in the day to alter the poll schedule in election-bound Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Tuesday paved the way for the Election Commission to earmark constituencies for Scheduled Tribes in the State, following a Presidential Order of 2003 that recognised 10 tribes.
The order has huge political overtones as the seats expected to be reserved as Scheduled Tribe seats were previously Scheduled Castes’ constituencies. Taking into account the latest entry of 10 tribes, the ST population in the State has risen from a mere 1 lakh to 6.5 lakh.
Deciding a petition filed by representatives of the 10 tribes accounting for 1,07,963 voters spread across 14 constituencies, the bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and SS Nijjar asked the EC to “consider” carving out constituencies for these Scheduled Tribes in areas where they are in majority. The court passed the order despite the restriction of burdening the Commission at a stage when the election process in the State is already underway.
In this task, the Commission was directed to take all possible help from the Centre and the Registrar, Census of India. Since the notification for the commencement of polls in UP is yet to be brought out, the order provides an opportunity to the EC to complete the endeavour even before the commencement of polls next month.
Since the electoral rolls were prepared based on the 2001 Census, the 10 tribes formed by a Presidential Order of 2003 arrived late in the day to claim proportional reservation. The tribes, mostly comprising Gonds, Kharwar had claimed stake of being in majority in Sonbhadra, Deoria and Balia Assembly seats.
The Election Commission, represented by advocate Meenakshi Arora, had informed the court that in the past, a similar situation arose when the Parliament by law had added castes by a Presidential Order. Though the Commission on its own had no power to make such a change, even a court order could facilitate such a move, she added. However, Arora said that the exercise of identifying and carving out constituencies required three to four months.
Attorney General GE Vahanvati, who represented the Centre, supported the demand raised by the petitioner as it was a constitutional mandate that required to be given effect. But at the same time he did not insist to put pressure on the EC and submitted that the court could ask the Commission to consider providing proportional representation to STs based on the latest figures available with the Census.
