SC: Anyone Can Contest From General Category Irrespective Of Class

SC: Anyone Can Contest From General Category Irrespective Of Class Dated:18-02-2009 Source: UNI DELHI: Holding that any candidate can contest from the seat reserved for general category candidates, the Supreme Court has upheld the election of Bihari Lal Rada, a Backward Class candidate to the post of president, Municipal Council of Hisar in Haryana. Punjab and Haryana High Court had set aside the election of Rada as president of the local body on the grounds that he belonged to Backward Class while the post of president is reserved for general category candidates. The election of Rada was challenged by Anil Jain alias Tinu who had secured 13 votes against the 19 votes secured by Rada. Rada was declared elected to the post of president of Municipal council, Hisar. A bench comprising Justices Lokeshwar Singh Panta and B Sudershan Reddy while allowing the appeal of Rada noted, ‘there is nothing in law that a person belonging to Backward Class who got selected from a ward reserved for that class is debarred from contesting the election to the office of president/chairperson when that office is not reserved and meant to be filled in from the members belonging to the general category.’ Writing the 37-page judgement for the bench, Justice Reddy also noted, ‘whenever the office of the president of a municipality is required to be filled in by a member belonging to SC/ST or Backward Class as the case may be, it would be enough if one belongs to one of those categories irrespective of the fact whether they have been elected from a general ward or a reserved ward.’ ‘Likewise, the office of the president of a municipality, if not reserved or meant for general category, all the candidates irrespective of their caste, class or community and of the fact whether they have been elected from a reserved ward or a general ward are entitled to seek election and contest for the post,’ he said. The apex court also noted that there is no separate category like general category. The expression belonging to the general category wherever employed means the seats or offices earmarked for persons belonging to all categories irrespective of their caste, class, community or tribe.

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