Petitioners question OBC and SC quotas; judgment expected by November 28 or 29
HC reserves verdict on Zilla Panchayat seat reservations
PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has reserved its judgment on two petitions challenging the 6 November notification on seat reservations in South Goa for the upcoming Zilla Panchayat elections.
The petitioners argued that the Nuvem and Curtorim constituencies were wrongly marked as OBC seats. They also pointed out that out of the five seats reserved for OBCs, two should have been reserved for OBC women, which was not done.
The State explained the reasons behind the final reservations and further argued that reserving a South Goa seat for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category was not legally valid as the SC population is only 0.9 per cent.
Appearing for the State, Advocate General Devidas Pangam said reservation is required only when a community’s population crosses a minimum threshold and remains proportionate to its demographic strength. Without this, he argued, SC reservation in South Goa is not mandatory.
The State also said that in such cases, the government may consider co-option after consulting the State Election Commission (SEC) and the Goa government.
Another key issue raised by the petitioners was the mandatory “triple test”, which they said was not followed despite being required by the Supreme Court. The government denied this claim.
Speaking to reporters, the AG said he hoped the verdict would be delivered by 28 or 29 November.
