SC upholds Haryana law specifying minimum education for panchayat contenders

New Delhi: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validity of the Haryana law specifying minimum educational qualifications and other criteria for candidates to contest Panchayat elections in the state.

"The writ petition is dismissed," a bench comprising justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre said.

The petition had challenged validity of Haryana's Panchayati Raj (amendment) Act 2015 which fixes matriculation as an essential qualification for general candidates contesting panchayat polls.

The Haryana government in September had rushed to the court, seeking an urgent hearing on the entire issue saying the stay on the recent amendments in the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015 amounts to "virtually" staying the election process in the state.

The qualification for women (general) and Scheduled Caste candidates has been fixed at Class VIII in the amended law.

However, according to the law, in a case where a woman candidate belonging to SC category is contesting election for the post of Panch, the minimum qualification for her would be Class V pass.

The amended law was passed on the concluding day of the Monsoon session of Haryana Assembly this September.

The lawyer for the petitioner said that 83 per cent of Dalit women and 71 per cent women in general and 56 per cent men would be excluded from contesting the panchayat polls by this law, which affected fundamental rights of the candidates.