To,
The Chief Justice of India,
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi
Hon’ble Justice Thakur,
We, the undersigned, would like to express our strong disquiet and dismay at the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Rajbala & Ors. vs. State of Haryana, WP (C) 671 of 2015, delivered on 10.12.2015. On the 7th of September 2015, the State of Haryana passed the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act 2015 wherein the State Government amended Section 175 of the Act to include certain disqualifications for individuals contesting Panchayat elections. As these disqualifications would prejudice a large number of people and were closely linked to, if not entirely based on, socio-economic status, the Petitioners approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its writ jurisdiction under Article 32 asking that their fundamental right to equality be protected and that they and others like them be allowed to participate in Panchayat Elections in the State of Haryana.
The disqualifications upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court are as follows:
(a) If the person has not passed matriculation examination or its equivalent examination from any recognized institution/board;
(b) In the case of a woman candidate or candidate belonging to Schedule Castes, the minimum minimum educational qualification would be middle pass;
(c) In the case of a woman candidate belonging to a Schedule Caste contesting election for the post of Panch, the minimum educational qualification would be fifth pass;
(d) If the person fails to pay any arrears due to him to any Primary Agriculture Co-operative Society, District Central Co-operative Bank and District Primary Co-operative Agriculture Rural Development Bank;
(e) If the person fails to pay arrears of electricity bills; or
(f) If the person fails to submit self-declaration to the effect that he has a functional toilet at his place of residence.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court discounted the fact that the above criteria would disqualify not only the petitioners, but a large portion of the rural population itself. The number of people who would fall outside the aforementioned educational criteria alone, as per the 2011 Census, are as follows:
(a) Non-SC men educated below matriculation-pass: 55.63%
(b) Non-SC women educated below middle-pass: 69%
(c) SC-men educated below middle-pass: 62.16%
(d) SC-women educated below primary school-pass: 83.6%
It is evident from this data that the law has a disproportionate impact on women and poor people, such as Scheduled Castes, and is therefore violative of the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution. It may also be noted that over 30% of the elected representatives from the last Panchayat elections are now disqualified from contesting Panchayat Elections, unless they obtain the requisite qualifications as adults.
Similarly, the other disqualifications bear a strong relationships to socio-economic status and would penalize persons for reasons that may be beyond their control. The judgment does not differentiate between a person who willfully does not clear his or her arrears from others who may be drought affected or are otherwise incapable of clearing electricity arrears or repaying agricultural loans.
The Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court discounted the adverse social impact of the law by holding that the numbers were of no consequence since it was Constitutionally permissible to debar certain classes of people. However, it is the belief of the undersigned that the Judgment upholds a law that suffers from Constitutional infirmities, both due to its mass effect and as the disqualifications do not bear a rational nexus to the objectives of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 and as enshrined by The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992.
We strongly urge the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and his Companion Judges to provide some relief that may permit strong, socially conscious and aware (though without the requisite qualifications) candidates to contest Panchayat elections in Haryana and other States which may have similar laws. At present, the amendment would, as per the Judgment, debar 43% of the rural population of Haryana from contesting elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions. Data from the Census 2011 suggests that this percentage could be significantly higher, and thus Panchayat elections in the State of Haryana would undermine the spirit of democracy.
Malini Bhattacharya, President, AIDWA
Jagmati Sangwan, General Secretary, AIDWA