Official language and local self-government

1. Official language: Articles 343 to 351

• Article 343 — the official language of the Union is Hindi in Devanagari script, with the international form of numerals. English was to continue for fifteen years; the Official Languages Act, 1963 continues its use without a time limit.
• Article 344 — a Commission and a Parliamentary Committee on the progressive use of Hindi.
• Articles 345 to 347 — a State may adopt one or more languages for its official purposes; English is used between the Union and the States until changed; the President may recognise a language spoken by a substantial section of a State's people.
• Article 348 — proceedings in the Supreme Court and High Courts, and the authoritative texts of Bills, Acts and rules, are in English until Parliament provides otherwise. Under 348(2) the Governor, with the President's consent, may authorise Hindi or the State's language in High Court proceedings, but not in judgments, decrees or orders.
• Article 350 — any person may submit a representation in any language used in the Union or a State. 350A — instruction in the mother tongue at primary stage for linguistic minority children. 350B — a Special Officer for linguistic minorities.
• Article 351 — the Union's duty to promote the spread of Hindi.
• The Eighth Schedule lists 22 languages.

2. Why the 1992 Amendments were needed

Article 40 directed the State to organise village panchayats, but as a Directive Principle it was unenforceable. Local bodies were superseded for years, elections were not held, and their funds and functions depended on the State government. The Seventy-third Amendment (Part IX, Articles 243 to 243-O, and the Eleventh Schedule) and the Seventy-fourth Amendment (Part IXA, Articles 243P to 243ZG, and the Twelfth Schedule), both of 1992 and in force from 1993, gave local bodies constitutional status. Karnataka's law under Part IX is the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act, 1993.

3. Panchayats: Part IX

• Gram Sabha (243A) — the body of all persons on the electoral rolls of the village. It exercises the powers the State legislature gives it, such as approving plans and identifying beneficiaries.
• Three tiers (243B) — village, intermediate (taluk) and district. A State with a population under 20 lakh need not have the intermediate level.
• Composition (243C) — all seats filled by direct election from territorial constituencies. The State law may provide for representation of chairpersons of lower tiers in higher ones, and of MPs and MLAs. The chairperson of a village panchayat is elected as the State law provides; at intermediate and district level, by and from the elected members.
• Reservation (243D) — seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their population; not less than one-third of seats for women (including within SC/ST seats); offices of chairpersons at each level reserved for SCs, STs and women as the State law provides; rotation of reserved seats; and under 243D(6) the State may reserve seats and chairpersons' offices for backward classes.
• Duration (243E) — five years. An election must be completed before the term expires, and within six months of a dissolution.
• Disqualifications (243F) — as for the State legislature, with a minimum age of 21.
• Powers (243G, 243H) — the State law may endow panchayats with powers to function as institutions of self-government, prepare plans for economic development and social justice, and implement schemes, including the 29 subjects in the Eleventh Schedule (agriculture, minor irrigation, drinking water, rural housing, primary education, health, poverty alleviation and others). The State may authorise them to levy and collect taxes, tolls and fees.
• State Finance Commission (243-I) — every five years, to review panchayat finances and recommend sharing of State taxes and grants.
• State Election Commission (243K) — superintends, directs and controls panchayat elections. The State Election Commissioner can be removed only like a High Court judge, and his conditions cannot be varied to his disadvantage.
• Scheduled Areas (243M) — Part IX does not apply of its own force. The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) extends it with modifications.
• Bar on courts (243-O) — delimitation and seat allotment laws cannot be questioned in court, and an election can be challenged only by an election petition.

4. Municipalities: Part IXA

• Three types (243Q) — Nagar Panchayat for an area in transition from rural to urban, Municipal Council for a smaller urban area, Municipal Corporation for a larger one.
• Composition (243R) — directly elected members, with nominated persons having special knowledge (without a vote), and MPs and MLAs as the State law provides.
• Wards Committees (243S) — for municipalities with a population of three lakh or more.
• Reservation (243T) — parallel to 243D. Under 243T(4) the offices of Chairpersons in municipalities are reserved for SCs, STs and women in the manner the State law provides.
• Duration, Finance Commission and Election Commission — Articles 243U, 243Y and 243ZA apply the panchayat rules to municipalities.
• Twelfth Schedule — 18 subjects, such as urban planning, water supply, public health and sanitation, slum improvement, and fire services.
• Planning committees — District Planning Committee (243ZD) and Metropolitan Planning Committee (243ZE).

5. The leading cases

In K. Krishna Murthy v. Union of India, 2010 INSC 307, (2010) 7 SCC 202, a Constitution Bench upheld Articles 243D(4) and 243T(4), which reserve chairpersons' offices, and 243D(6) and 243T(6), which permit backward-class reservation. Reservation in local bodies is a distinct scheme, not governed by Articles 15(4) and 16(4). A chairperson's office is a single post, but reserving it does not offend equality because it rotates and so is not a permanent bar. The Court added that vertical reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs together should not ordinarily exceed 50 per cent, and that OBC reservation needs a rigorous inquiry into backwardness for political representation.

That last point became the “triple test” in Vikas Kishanrao Gawali v. State of Maharashtra, 2021 INSC 150, (2021) 6 SCC 73: a dedicated commission to study backwardness in the local body context, proportions specified on its findings, and a total within 50 per cent.

In Kishansing Tomar v. Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad, 2006 INSC 713, (2006) 8 SCC 352, the Court held that the State Election Commission must hold elections before the term ends, and cannot delay them on grounds such as pending delimitation. In Union of India v. Rakesh Kumar, 2010 INSC 32, (2010) 4 SCC 50, the Court upheld PESA's reservation of all chairpersons' posts in Scheduled Area panchayats for STs, as a measure to protect tribal self-government.

6. Problem

A State law reserves the office of chairman of a municipality for a woman belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. A general-category candidate challenges it as violating Articles 14 and 16.

The challenge fails. Article 243T(4) itself provides that the offices of Chairpersons in municipalities shall be reserved for SCs, STs and women as the State legislature provides, and the women's reservation under 243T(3) extends to seats reserved for SCs and STs. Article 16 does not apply because a chairperson's office is an elective post, not public employment. In K. Krishna Murthy the Court upheld reservation of chairpersons' posts, even though each is a single post, because the reservation rotates among municipalities in successive terms. The candidate can succeed only if the State law fails the conditions in Part IXA (for example, no rotation, or reservations above 50 per cent without justification). Article 243ZG bars a challenge to the election itself except by an election petition.

How this is examined

A full question on the composition and powers of panchayats under the Seventy-third Amendment, or a short note on the Gram Sabha, State Election Commission or State Finance Commission. The municipal-chairperson problem has been set. For the language provisions, a short note on Article 343 or 348 is enough.