SC declines plea for rotation of reserved constituencies, says Parliament must decide

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to direct the rotation of constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in state legislative assemblies and Parliament, observing that introducing such a mechanism was a matter for Parliament to decide.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana made the observations while dismissing a plea challenging the continued reservation of certain constituencies for SC/ST candidates without rotation for several decades.

During the hearing, Justice Bagchi said, "That proceeds on the idea that a majority community will vote on community or caste lines. They may not vote on community and caste lines. The high court cannot judicially pronounce on a democratic choice. That is for the voters to decide."


The plea was filed by Jagdish Singh, an elector from the 191-Kadipur assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district. He contended that the constituency had remained reserved for SC candidates for nearly seven decades, thereby restricting the electoral choices available to voters and the political opportunities available to candidates belonging to other communities.

The Allahabad High Court had earlier dismissed the challenge, holding that the existing statutory framework did not provide for the rotation of reserved assembly and parliamentary constituencies.