The Supreme Court on Wednesday (4th November 2026) declined to entertain a plea for rotation of seats reserved for SCs/STs in Parliament and state legislative assemblies. When petitioner sought relief from the court, CJ Surya Kant, in a remark that elicited a smile from all the judges said, “You are dialling the wrong number – this is the age of protests and demonstrations. Perhaps you should follow suit.”
The petitioner was Jagdish Singh, a voter of 191-Kadipur Assembly constituency in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh which has remained reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates for almost seven decades. Singh contended that unavailability of a compulsory rotation system had limited choices to elect a representative and several families enjoyed a monopoly for several years. The petitioner sought similar provision to Panchayat and municipal elections under Articles 243D and 243T respectively of the Constitution. He also submitted that the arrangement was discriminatory and arbitrary and infringed the constitutional equality and other fundamental rights.
Nevertheless, the bench, including Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, said power to create a rotational system in scheduled and reserved constituencies rested in Parliament and legislature. Justice Bagchi said that the court could not amend constitutional provisions or turn into a third chamber of Parliament and added that voters’ right to cast a ballot had not been taken away, nor were candidates debarred from contesting from a non-reserved seat. The bench added that voters would choose candidates based on political parties and their ideologies, and not on caste or religion.
When the Chief Justice said he may organise a protest, the petitioner’s lawyer clarified that he was not planning to do so and said he had a sore throat. The CJ told the petitioner to raise his voice before people’s representatives and seek the legislature to revisit the matter. The apex court refused to intervene into the existing law and left the matter of mandatory rotation to the parliament.
