IMPORTANT POINT
Election--Chairman of Panchayat Samiti--Seat reserved for SC (women)--Respondent belonged to SC, eligible to contest the election, irrespective of the fact that he become member of said samiti from the zone which was reserved for women.

Satish Kumar Mittal, J.:- Petitioner Karnail Kaur has filed this petition for quashing the Resolution dated 23.6.2008 vide which Satnam Kaur-respondent No.7 has been elected as Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana, District Fatehgarh Sahib.

2. The Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana consists of 15 Zones from where one Member for each Zone was elected as per the reservation made by the government as depicted in Annexure P-1. The petitioner was representing Jodhpur Zone which was reserved for Scheduled Caste (Woman).

3. It is the case of the petitioner that the office of Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana was reserved for Scheduled Caste (Woman) as per the notification dated 14.05.2008 issued by the State Government. All the 15 Members of the Panchayat Samiti, who were from different Zones, were to elect the Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti. It is further the case of the petitioner that Smt.Satnam Kaur-respondent No.7 was not eligible to contest the election for the office of Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana because she was declared elected as Member from Himmatpura Zone, which was reserved for Woman and not for Scheduled Caste (Woman) category. It is the case of the petitioner that only a Member of the Zone, who has been elected against the reserved category of Scheduled Caste (Woman), can contest the election for the office of Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana. According to the petitioner, only two Members, who were coming from two zones, namely, Jodhpur and Kandipur, were eligible to contest the election as both the Zones were reserved for Scheduled Caste (Woman) and from those two Zones, there are only two women of Scheduled Caste category, including the petitioner, who are the Members of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana.

4. In nutshell, the contention of the counsel for the petitioner is that only those Members of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana, who have been elected from Jodhpur and Kandipur Zones, which were reserved for the category of Scheduled Caste (Woman), were eligible to contest the election for the office of Chairman, but in the meeting held on 23.6.2008, respondent No.7, who became Member of Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana from Himmatpura Zone, which was reserved for Woman, has been wrongly elected as Chairman.

5. In this petition, the question arises for consideration is whether respondent No.7 can contest the election for the office of Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti, Bassi Pathana, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste (Woman), irrespective of the fact that she was elected as Member of the Panchayat Samiti from Himmatpura Zone, which was reserved for Woman category.

6. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, we are of the opinion that the plea taken by the petitioner is not tenable and is contrary to the provisions of Article 243T of the Constitution of India, Section 106 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 and Rule 4 of the Punjab Reservation for the Offices of Sarpanches of Gram Panchayats and Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads Rules, 1994. These provisions are reproduced below for ready reference:-

“243T. Reservation of seats.-(1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality and the 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 in that Municipality as the population of Scheduled Castes in the municipal area or of the Scheduled Tribes in that municipal area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a municipality.

(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.

(3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Schedule