Judgement

VENKATARAMA AYYAR, J.: The appellant was candidate for election to the House of the People from the Karnal Reserved Constituency during the last General Elections. The proviso to S. 33 (3) of the Representation of the People Act (XLIII) of 1951), omitting what is not material, enacts "that in a constituency where any seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes, no candidate shall be deemed to be qualified to be chosen to fill that seat unless his nomination paper is accompanied by a declaration verified in the prescribed manner that the candidate is a member of Scheduled Caste for which the candidate is a member of the Scheduled Castes for which the seat has been so reserved and the declaration specifies the particular caste of which the candidate is a member and also the area in relation to which such caste is of the Scheduled Castes".

Rule 6 of the Election Rules provides that the declaration referred to in the above proviso shall be verified by the candidate on oath or solemn affirmation before a Magistrate. Schedule II contains the form of nomination paper to be used, with the terms in which the declaration is to be made by the candidate and verified by the Magistrate. On