Nagpur: A Public Interest litigation (PIL) filed in Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has sought reservation in the upcoming State Assembly elections as per the population ratio of Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST).
The PIL has been file by BJP Corporator and social activist Pramod Tabhane.
Following the PIL, Justice R K Deshpande and Justice Vinay Joshi issued notice before admission to Election Commission of India (ECI) returnable on September 25. In his petition, Tabhane stated that it was mandatory to make provision for reservation to SC and ST in proportion to their population. However, he alleged, in 10 elections to Lok Sabha since 1984, SCs were deprived of 10 seats.
Tabhane further stated that in State Assembly elections since 1985, SCs were deprived of 52 seats and STs 22 seats. According to the petitioner, SC and ST communities were deprived of these seats as the reservation of constituencies was not done in proportion to their population sizes.
As such, he alleged, there was violation of the provisions of Article 330 and Article 332 of the Constitution of India. As per Population Census 2011, the population of Maharashtra is 11,23,72,972 of which SC population was 11.81 per cent, and ST population was 9.35 per cent. In proportion, SCs should get 35 seats in the ensuing Assembly elections instead of existing 29, and STs should get 26 seats instead of 25, Tabhane stated in the petition.
The BJP Corporator had filed the petition on June 24, following which the High Court had asked him to prove his bona fide. Accordingly, on Wednesday, he deposited an amount of Rs 3 lakh with the High Court registry. Justice R K Deshpande and Justice Vinay Joshi then issued notice before admission to ECI, returnable on September 25.
Adv Pawan Sahare appeared for the petitioner.
