Haryana panchayat polls

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed strong reservations about prescribing minimum educational qualification as a pre-requisite for contesting polls. The issue relates to a new law in Haryana that mandates minimum educational qualification for those contesting panchayat polls. Even as the Attorney General termed it as a “progressive step” which Parliament should also follow, the court said the measure would result in barring half of India’s population from fighting elections. Acting on a PIL, a bench led by Justice J Chelameswar had last week stayed implementation of the law, bringing the electoral process in the state to a standstill. This had compelled the state government to seek a recall of the stay order. The Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015 requires that general candidates must have passed Class X exams, while women and Dalit candidates need to have cleared Class VIII and Class V, respectively.