JUDGMENT :

M. S. Sonak, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The Petitioners, by instituting the present Petition, seek the following reliefs :

“(a) For an order quashing the Impugned Notification bearing Ref. No.3 / 30 / Reservation / GEVP-186 / 2022- 23 / SEC / 3343 dated 01/07/2022 published in Series II No.13 of the Official Gazette, Government of Goa.

(b) For a writ of mandamus or any other writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction to the to the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to-issue a fresh notification on the subject of "Reservation of seats in Village Panchayats for General Elections to 186 Village Panchayats 2022" after securing compliance with the constitutional mandate of K. Krishna Murthy (supra) and Vikas Gawali (supra) and the statutory mandate of Section 7 of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, thereby undertaking reservation of seats in favour of the OBC category in terms of law."

3. Mr. Bhobe, the learned Counsel for the Petitioners, submits that the Petitioners have a statutory right to insist that the State Election Commission (SEC) provide reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBC). By not providing such reservations, he submits that the SEC has breached this statutory right, as guaranteed by Section 7(5) of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (said Act). He submits that the impugned Notification dated 1st July 2022, to the extent it does not provide for reservations for OBCs, is, therefore, liable to be quashed and set aside.

4. Mr. Bhobe submits that the Petitioners and other members of the OBCs cannot be made to suffer for the failure of the Respondents to comply with the "Triple Test" formulated in K. Krishna Murthy (Dr.) & ors. vs. Union of India & anr. – 2010 (7) SCC 202 and Vikas Kishanrao Gawali vs. State of Maharashtra & ors – 2021 SCC OnLine SC 170. He submits that even now, directions must be issued to the Respondents to comply with the triple test so that the provisions for reservations for OBCs can be made at the Panchayat elections scheduled on 10 th August 2022 in terms of the State Government's Notification dated 30th June 2022 under Rule 10 (1) of the Goa Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat (Election Procedure) Rules, 1996 (said Rules).

5. Mr. Bhobe submits that the SEC and the State Government should now be directed to postpone the elections to the 186 Panchayats in the State of Goa by some reasonable period within which the Respondents can comply with the triple test. After that, the SEC can proceed with the elections making provisions for reservations for the OBCs.

6. The learned Advocate General submitted that the State neither supports nor opposes the grant of any reliefs in this Petition. He, however, presents that the State will take appropriate steps before the appropriate forum to secure reservations for the OBCs. He submitted that no orders be made in this Petition to prevent the State Government from taking such steps as permissible under the law. Beyond this, the learned Advocate General did not make any further submissions in this Petition.

7. Mr. Joshi, the learned Counsel for the SEC, opposed the grant of any reliefs in this Petition. He referred to the recitals in the impugned Notification dated 1st July 2022 and submitted that the SEC had sought data of OBCs from the State Government well in time. He submitted that the State Government failed to provide such data about the OBCs in compliance with the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Vikas Gawali (supra) and Suresh Mahajan vs. State of Madhya Pradeshandanr.–2022 SCC OnLine SC589. He submitted that the SEC, following the law in Suresh Mahajan(supra) and the constitutional mandate in Article 243-E of the Constitution, issued the impugned Notification proposing to proceed with the elections to 186 Panchayats without any provisions for reservations to the OBCs. He, however, submits that the provisions have been made for reservations to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) consis