Haryana panchayat polls: SC reserves judgment

New Delhi, October 28 : The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday reserved its judgment on the validity of the Haryana law mandating educational norms for contesting panchayat elections.A Bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre passed the order at the conclusion of arguments by the petitioners and the state government.The state government strongly defended the norms, contending these were necessary for rural development.The petitioners, three persons rendered ineligible to contest by the norms, said these were exclusionary and would primarily affect the weaker sections.The Bench granted one week time to the petitioners to file written submissions. The state government said it would like to file its response if the petitioners raised any new points.The Bench told the litigants to complete the process quickly if they wanted early elections.Under the fresh norms, the general category contestants should have passed matriculation, while women and SC candidates should have cleared 8th standard.The educational requirement for women candidates from the SC category was fifth pass.Candidates also should not have defaulted on repayment of loans taken from cooperative banks and payment of electricity bills, besides having functional toilets at home.