The Supreme Court said it will take up the case on Monday. (File photo)
To defend a law that set mandatory educational qualifications for candidates contesting Panchayat elections in the Haryana, the state government moved the Supreme Court today.
The Haryana government told the court that if it doesn't vacate the stay on the law, then polls that start from October 4 will be cancelled.
Today is the last day of filing the nominations for the election and they will scrutinised on Monday, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Haryana government, told the court.
He argued that though the court has not stayed the elections, but the stay had implied that polls can't be held.
The Supreme Court said it will take up the case on Monday. Till then, the Haryana poll body has asked officers to accept all nominations.
Based on a petition filed by the All India Democratic Women's Association which said the law violated a candidate's right to contest elections, the court had stayed the law yesterday and issued a notice to the Haryana government seeking its response.
According to the law passed on September 7 by the state assembly, while general candidates must have passed class 10 examinations, women and Dalit candidates are required to have cleared class 8 to contest the Panchayat polls.
Candidates should also not have a criminal conviction, no pending electricity bills or loan payments and a working toilet, the law had said.
But the petition against the law said that it made most of the candidates in the state ineligible and is against the constitution.
The law had been passed in state assembly after a similar ordinance issued by the BJP government in state was stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court following a petition.
Panchayat elections in Haryana are scheduled to be held in three phases on October 4, 11 and 18 this year. More than 1.10 crore voters are eligible to vote in the elections.
More than 72,000 posts of panchayat members, panchayat samitis and zila parishads will be up for vote, nominations for which opened on September 15.