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The Bahujan Samaj Party has filed a plea in the Madras High Court complaining that not even a single councillor seat had been reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates in any of the 21 Municipal Corporations in the State.

The plea is filed by one A.C. Sathiymoorthym, a member of Bahujan Samaj Party in Tiruvallur constituency, Chennai.

The plea avers that, the aim of the 73rd Amended of the Constitution is to provide proper representations to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes at least in the local bodies' elections. In 1992, the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act was introduced in Parliament and the existing Part IX was substituted.

“Though the Panchayati Raj institutions have been in existence for a long time, it has been observed that these institutions have not been able to acquire the status and dignity of viable and responsive people's bodies due to a number of reasons including absence of regular elections, prolonged supersessions, insufficient representation of weaker sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, inadequate devolution of powers and lack of financial resources,” excerpt from plea.

According to the plea, the Secretary to the government had announced election for three Corporations, Municipalities and Town Panchayats. These are all comes under the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1990 and the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920.

Totally 21 Corporations are facing elections. Only three seats were allotted to the Scheduled Caste but no seats were allotted to the Scheduled Tribes for the same.

For the Municipalities 20 seats were allotted to the Scheduled Caste one seat was allotted to the Scheduled Tribes out of 138 seats and also in respect of Town Panchayats are consent 85 seats are allotted by the Scheduied Castes and 3 seats are allotted to the Scheduled Tribes out of 490,” excerpt from plea.

The plea further states that the present ruling party of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is wearing social justice as dress and the petitioner through it should not become as mask. Apart from that in the year 2016 when the same election was announced by then AIADMK Government. It was challenged by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on the ground that no Chairman post in Corporations has been reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

"No Chairman post in Corporations has been reserved for Scheduled Tribes and similarly for other Local Bodies, namely Panchayat, Panchayat Union, District Union and Wards, less numbers have been reserved. Therefore, for lack of proportionate reservation to the Scheduled Tribe Population, the notifications issued for conducting of election by the second respondent/Election Commission are vitiated,” states the plea.

Subsequently, the above said election was challenged during the scrutinization nomination papers. Thereafter the High court had accepted the pleadings with logical and natural / laws and vitiated the notifications. Infact, the writ petitioner therein, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government become a ruling party of the state. “They ought to have, morally, given at least one seat allotted to the Schedule Tribes in the councilor of Chennai Corporation out of 200 wards,” states the plea.

[Case Title – BSP v. State]