The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed both the Centre and Nagaland government over its unwillingness to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in urban local body polls in Nagaland.
A division bench of Justices S K Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said, “You take extreme stands against other state governments not amenable to you, but you do not want to say something when it’s your own state government.”
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“Here (in Nagaland), it is the same party as the Central government. What is the Central government going to do now? We will not let you wash your hands off,” the Supreme Court said.
Nagaland has a coalition government led by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the BJP is a partner in the ruling dispensation.
Justice Kaul pointed that reservation is a kind of affirmative action and ensures there is a minimum level of representation.
The apex court also emphasised that social changes often follow law-making. “In our country, law comes before social change; law gives the impetus. Do you think Hindu men would otherwise easily agree to have one wife? Would people give equal property share to daughters,” SC stated.
The SC heard the petitions challenging the Nagaland Assembly’s September 2012 decision exempting the operation of Part IX-A of the Constitution, which mandates 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies in the state. This was subsequently withdrawn in 2016, but the reservation remains to be given effect.