Keywords: Panchayats, Reservations, Proxies, Misuse
A Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Supreme Court by Advocate-on-Record, Swati Jindal, which alleged that the women’s reservations in Panchayats were being misused as after the wives won elections from the reserved seats, the husbands were running the post through proxies. It is a common practice in rural areas and is popularly known as ‘Pradhan Patis’.
The petitioner said that the reservations for women have been only in words, and not implemented in reality. Given the same, the petitioner asked the Apex Court to constitute a Committee to conduct research and suggest solutions to resolve the issue.
The Bench, comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, accepted that the problem was real, but stated that the increasing women’s participation in governance was an evolutionary process in India. The Bench opined that it was not in the domain of the Apex Court to resolve the issue raised in the petition, as it was an executive affair. The Ministry of Panchayats Raj must set up a better mechanism for a fair and proper implementation of the reservation system.
Thus, the Court dismissed the plea, on the grounds that it was not the duty of the judiciary to form such a committee. However, it allowed the petitioner to file a representation before the Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj.
Name: Archita Garg, College Name: School of Law, Christ University, Bangalore Semester: I ,An intern under Legal Vidhiya
