SC paves way for panchayat polls in Jharkhand

The stage for holding panchayat elections in Jharkhand pending for around three decades was cleared after the Supreme Court set aside the verdict, dated September 2, 2005, of the Jharkhand High Court and upheld the provisions of the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act, 2001.

A constitution bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan on Tuesday upheld the provisions of the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act, 2001, which provided 100 per cent reservation of seats of chairpersons in all three levels of the panchayat in scheduled, or tribal, areas.

The Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act, 2001 has the provision of 33 per cent reservation for women in both scheduled and non-scheduled areas.

The Jharkhand High Court had declared 100 per cent reservation of seats of panchayat chairpersons at all three tiers in scheduled (tribal) areas as “unconstitutional and ultra-vires”.

In the face of widespread protests by tribal organisations, the state government had to de-notify panchayat elections scheduled in 2005 and challenged the order of the High Court in the apex Court.

Jharkhand’s 12 districts are under scheduled areas where all the posts of chairperson would be reserved for tribals. There are 4,564 panchayats in the state with 2,228 of them under scheduled areas.

The apex court in its elaborate judgment said, “There is a compelling need to safeguard the interests of tribal communities with immediate effect by giving them an effective voice in local-self government, especially in the context of scheduled areas”.