- (1.) Challenge in the present petition is to the notification dated 20.04.2012 (Annexure P-2) under Section 6 of the Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 whereby the wards have been reserved for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Caste Women, Women (General Category) and Backward Classes. The challenge to the said notification is on the premise that the State Government while issuing the notification has not rotated the wards as is required under Section 6 of the Act and keeping in view the provisions of Art 243(ZG) of the Constitution of India in Part IXA introduced by virtue of 74th constitutional amendment.
(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioners has referred to judgments passed by Division Bench of this Court in the cases Pawan Kumar and others vs. State of Haryana and others, 2011 AIR(P&H) 102; Bhagwat Dayal vs. State of Punjab and others, 2009 154 PunLR 789; Inderjit vs. State of Punjab (LPA No. 1294 of 2010) decided on 15.02.2012 and the Single Bench judgment of this Court in the case titled as Taranjit Singh Walia vs.State of Punjab and others (CWP No. 10436 of 2008) decided on 23.01.2012 and Sukhwinder Kaur vs. State of Punjab and others, 2011 1 RCR(Civ) 896 as well as judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Kasambhai E Ghanchi vs. Chandubhai D. Rajput and others, 1998 1 SCC 285.
(3.) The reliance on the aforesaid judgments is to contend that the reservation of the wards and their rotation is mandatory. Since the wards have not been rotated, therefore, the notification (Annexure P-2) is legally not sustainable. It is contended that the same wards which were reserved for the previous elections conducted in the year 2007 have been reserved again for the elections in the year 2012. It is argued that since the notification reserving the wards was issued on the same date i.e. on 20.4.2012 when the notification under Section 7-A of the Act was issued, therefore, the petitioners have right to challenge this notification before this Court as there was no opportunity with the petitioners to approach this Court before the publication of notification under 7-A of the Act.;