Shimla, April 7
In a major setback for the Himachal Pradesh government, the High Court has stayed a controversial decision that allowed deputy commissioners to alter up to 5 percent of reserved seats in the roster for the upcoming panchayat elections. The order came just weeks before local body polls are due across the state, adding fresh legal and political tension to preparations for one of Himachal’s biggest grassroots electoral exercises.
The state government had issued a notification authorising deputy commissioners (DCs) to make limited changes in the reservation roster — the system used to allocate seats under categories such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backwards Classes (OBC) and other reserved groups. But the High Court on Monday put that decision on hold. It also made it clear that if any reservation roster had already been issued using those powers, those rosters too would remain stayed.
At the same time, the court reiterated its earlier direction that all DCs must finalise and implement the reservation rosters for the panchayat elections by 7 April, but without using the now-stayed 5% modification rule.
The ruling could have an immediate administrative impact. Reservation rosters had already been issued in at least five districts — Kullu, Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Hamirpur — and these may now need to be reworked or reissued.
With PTI Inputs
