Lucknow: Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking provision of a rotational system for constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.While observing that rotation of reserved seats could be a better mechanism to advance the goals of social and political justice, the court held that the issue falls within Parliament’s legislative domain.A vacation bench comprising Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai passed the verdict on a petition filed by Jagdish Singh, a voter from the Kadipur Assembly constituency in Sultanpur.The petitioner contended that the Kadipur constituency has remained reserved for Scheduled Castes for nearly six decades, depriving general category voters and aspiring candidates of equal political opportunities. He also challenged Section 9(1)(b) of the Delimitation Act, 2002, under which constituencies with a relatively higher proportion of SC/ST population are earmarked as reserved seats.The plea argued that similar to the rotational reservation system followed in panchayats and urban local bodies, Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies should also undergo periodic rotation of reserved status.Rejecting the plea, the bench observed: “It is not within the domain of this court to issue directions for legislating the Act, 2002 in a manner so as to provide for rotation of reserved seats for Assembly or Parliamentary constituencies as provided under Article 243(D) and 243(T) for panchayats and municipalities etc. It is the Parliament which must take call on the subject.”The bench said that Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution provide for reservation of seats for SCs and STs in Parliament and state legislatures but do not prescribe the methodology for implementing such quota.The bench held that Section 9(1)(b) of the Act neither exceeds Parliament’s legislative competence nor violates any constitutional provision or fundamental right.The court emphasised that it cannot direct Parliament or the legislature to enact a particular law.
