Case Title: Vikas Kishanrao Gawali v. State Of Maharashtra
Section 12(2)(c) of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961, which allows for the reservation of 27% of seats in Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, was struck down by the Supreme Court.
"Reservation in favour of OBCs in the concerned local bodies can be notified to the extent that it does not exceed aggregate 50% of total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together," remarked the bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Indu Malhotra, and Ajay Rastogi.
The court observed that a rigid interpretation of the provision would violate the dictum laid down by the Constitution bench in K. Krishna Murthy (Dr.) & Ors. v. Union of India, that the State legislation providing for OBC reservation must ensure that the aggregate vertical reservation in respect of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together does not exceed 50% of the seats in the concerned local bodies.
The bench stated that the State must comply with the following three tests/conditions before reserving seats in local bodies for OBCs:
"(1) to set up a dedicated Commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies, within the State; (2) to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body wise in light of recommendations of the Commission, so as not to fall foul of overbreadth; and (3) in any case such reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together. In a given local body, the space for providing such reservation in favour of OBCs may be available at the time of issuing election programme (notifications). However, that could be notified only upon fulfilling the aforementioned preconditions. Admittedly, the first step of establishing a dedicated Commission to undertake rigorous empirical inquiry itself remains a mirage. To put it differently, it will not be open to respondents to justify the reservation for OBCs without fulfilling the triple test, referred to above."
The court issued this ruling in response to writ petitions seeking a declaration that Section 12(2)(c) of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act is in violation of Articles 243D and 243T, as well as Articles 14 and 16 of the Indian Constitution. The writ petitions also questioned the legality of notifications issued by the Maharashtra State Election Commission granting more than 50% reservation to Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis in the districts of Washim, Akola, Nagpur, and Bhandara.
The bench partially granted the writ petitions and invalidated the contested notifications. "As a result, subsequent steps taken based on such notifications, including the declaration of candidates' results against the reserved OBC seats in the concerned local bodies, are declared non-est in law; and the seats are deemed to have been vacated forthwith prospectively by the concerned candidate(s) in terms of this judgement," the bench added.