Sm t Shobha Joshi v. Advocat e

Mr. K.K. Tiwari, learned counsel appearing for t he appellant , has subm it t ed t hat t he appellant herein 1 filed Writ Pet it ion ( M/ S) No.3627 of 2024 challenging t he Not ificat ion No.1536/ I V( 3) / 2024- 11 ( 3fuokZ0) / 2024 dat ed 23.12.2024, issued by t he respondent no.2, whereby t he post of Mayor, Nagar Nigam , Alm ora has been reserved/ allot t ed for Ot her Backward Cast e Cat egory. The pet it ioner sought a direct ion t o declare t he post of Mayor, Nagar Nigam , Alm ora as General ( Wom en) . 3 . Mr. K.K. Tiwari, Advocat e, has cont ended t hat t he appellant is a perm anent resident of Dist rict Alm ora. She want s t o cont est t he elect ion for t he post of Mayor, Nagar Nigam , Alm ora. As per t he Municipal Corporat ion ( Reservat ion and Allocat ion of Seat s and Post s) Rules, 2024, t he crit eria for reserving t he seat is populat ion. Rule 6( 3) ( kha) of t he said Rules, 2024 provides t hat where t here is a populat ion less t han t en t housand t hen such cat egory shall be excluded from reservat ion. The populat ion of OBC Cat egory in Nagar Nigam , Alm ora is 2513, t he populat ion of t he Scheduled Cast e Cat egory is 5575 and t he unreserved populat ion is 30663 as per 2011 census. The Nagar Nigam , Alm ora seat in t he t ent at ive list was kept reserved for General Cat egory ( Wom en) , but , aft er finalizing t he t ent at ive list , it has been reserved for 2 OBC Cat egory wit hout any basis. 4 . Mr. J.S. Bisht , learned St anding Counsel for t he St at e, has opposed t he said subm issions. 5 . The St at e Elect ion Com m ission announced t he elect ion schedule on 23.12.2024. The Elect ion schedule is as follows: - ( i) Nom inat ion Dat e – 27.12.2024 t o

30.12.2024. ( ii) Scrut iny of t he nom inat ion papers –

31.12.2024 t o 01.01.2025. ( iii) Dat e for Wit hdrawal of nom inat ion –

02.01.2025. ( iv) Allot m ent of Sym bols – 03.01.2025. ( v) Dat e of Vot ing - 23.01.2025. ( vi) Dat e of Count ing of Vot es – 25.01.2025. 6 . Learned Single Judge, aft er considering Art icles 243T, 243( 2) , 243( S) , 243( U) , 243( V) , 243ZA, 243ZG of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia and t he j udgm ent s of t he Hon’ble Suprem e Court in “ Bo d d u l a K r i sh n a i a h a n d A n o t h e r v s. St a t e El e ct i o n Co m m i ssi o n e r , A .P. a n d Ot h e r s” , ( 1 9 9 6 ) 3 SCC 4 1 6 , “ M o h i n d e r Si n g h Gi l l v s. Ch i e f El e ct i o n Co m m i ssi o n e r ” , 1 9 7 8 ( 1 ) 3 SCC 4 0 5 , “ El e ct i o n Co m m i ssi o n o f I n d i a Vs. A sh o k K u m a r ” , ( 2 0 0 0 ) 8 SCC 2 1 6 , “ Un i o n Te r r i t o r y o f La d a k h a n d Ot h e r s Vs. Ja m m u K a sh m i r N a t i o n a l Co u n ci l ” , 2 0 2 3 SCC On Li n e SC 1 1 4 0 , “ St a t e o f Go a Vs. Fo u zi y a I m t i a z Sh a i k h a n d A n o t h e r ” , ( 2 0 2 1 ) 8 SCC 4 0 1 , “ D r a v i d a M u n n e t r a K a zh a g a m ( D M K) v s. Se cr e t a r y , Go v e r n o r ’ s Se cr e t a r i a t ” , ( 2 0 2 0 ) 6 SCC 5 4 8 a n d “ A n u g r a h N a r a i n Si n g h & Ot h e r s Vs. St a t e Of U.P.” , 1 9 9 6 ( 6 ) SCC 3 0 3 , observed, in t he bunch of t he writ pet it ions: - “ 4 9 . Since t he issue is only confined t o t he im pugned not ificat ion dat ed 23.12.2024, which pert ains t o t he allot m ent of seat s, but what would be t he im pact of t he im pugned not ificat ion t o t he Elect ion Not ificat ion t his aspect cannot be overlooked. Therefore, at t his j unct ure, if t his Court scrut inises t he decision for det erm inat ion of allot m ent of seat s, even for one const it uency, t hen it will cert ainly affect t he ot her const it uencies. No doubt , t he m andat e of Art icle 243( T) of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia is t o follow t he rost er of reservat ion and even if while det erm ining t he allot m ent of seat s, t he rost er in respect of som e of t he const it uencies have not been followed which are disput ed by t he St at e as well as by Elect ion Com m ission, any int erference wit h t he im pugned not ificat ion will cert ainly effect t he elect ion of ot her 4 const it uencies in respect of which t here is no challenge t o t he allot m ent of seat . I n ot her words dist urbing one seat cert ainly will affect t he ot her const it uencies, t herefore, as a whole, any int erference at t his j unct ure in respect of t he im pugned not ificat ion will am ount t o an int erference wit h t he elect ion process at t his st age, part icularly when t he elect ion has already been not ified. 6 0 . Therefore, due t o lack of pleadings at t his j unct ure, t his Court is keeping all t hese pet it ions pending and invit ing count er affidavit from t he St at e as well as from t he St at e Elect ion Com m ission t o exam ine t he validit y of im pugned not ificat ion by fram ing issue “ what would be t he im pact of im pugned not ificat ion t he elect ions are concluded, aft er declaring t he result of t he ret urned candidat e and whet her t he non- com pliance of Const it ut ional provision as well as non- com pliance wit h t he provisions of Municipalit y Act t he Municipal Corporat ion Act as well as Rules of 2024 can be a subj ect m at t er of elect ion pet it ion or not ,” and t his issue will be decided lat er on t hat t oo aft er t he elect ion are over, ot herwise any int erference at t his st age am ount s t o an int erference wit h t he on going elect ions, which is against t he m andat e of set t led principle of law.” 7 . I n t he fact s and circum st ances of t he case, I 5 am of t he considered view t hat t he learned Single Judge has not erred in passing t he im pugned order. I do not find any perversit y and infirm it y t he im pugned order warrant ing int erference. This Court does not find any m erit in t he present appeal. Special Appeal is liable t o be dism issed at t he adm ission st age. 8 . I n t he result , t he Special Appeal is dism issed. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A LOK K UM A R VERM A , J. Va ca t i o n Ju d g e Dat e: 16.01.2025 Pant / PANKAJ KUMAR PANT DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=9bb5448b4a92c65bab85a1384e98c8e23962296e78d4821a6ec01b40 8aa193c8, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=4FA443614ABEBC1A2C417A645E31B2B4B9D897811D160D334 C31AA4BA6D48D32, cn=PANKAJ KUMAR PANT 6