The three-phase elections to Gram Panchayats and Zila Parishads in Haryana that were to be held starting October 4 will now be conducted only after the Supreme Court decides the validity of the State law prescribing minimum educational qualification for persons to contest local body polls.
This became clear on Tuesday after the State Government informed the apex court that it was not willing to drop the educational qualification from the recently-enacted the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act 2015.
The court had indicated to the State a day before that it was willing to allow the elections to go on provided the educational criteria is not enforced. The law prescribed that general category candidates must have passed matriculation, women and male Dalit candidates must have passed Class 8, and women Dalit candidates must have passed Class V.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Haryana, told the bench of Justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre that the state has instructed him that it would be "inappropriate" at the moment to tweak the minimum educational criteria fixed under the recent amendment brought out to the state law.
"I have taken instructions. It would be inappropriate for us (Haryana) to tweak the education qualification criteria at the moment," Rohatgi said, adding, "let the petition be decided at the earliest if the court does not agree with the plea to vacate its interim order."
The State Election Commission also told the Court that it would come out with fresh election notification only after the apex court had finally decided the issue. The polls were to be held in three phases on October 4, 11 and 18.
The bench fixed the matter for hearing on October 7 giving 10 days' time to the state government for filing its response. The Court has already stayed the educational criteria requirement on a petition by three candidates in the fray who alleged that the qualifications fixed by the state government would deprive majority persons from contesting the polls.