JUDGMENT :

J.C. SHAH, J.

1. At the elections held in February 1967, Dina Vithoba Narnavare, resident of Tahsil Gadchiroli, District Chanda, was declared elected to the Maharashtra legislative assembly from the Armori Scheduled Tribes Constituency. The High Court set aside the election in an application filed by the first respondent on the ground that the appellant Dina was not eligible to stand as a candidate from a reserved constituency.

2. By his election petition the first respondent contended that the appellant is a Mana and not a Gond (Marra) and that the (Kshatriya Badwaik Mana community to which the appellant belonged is a sub-caste of Marathon or Kunbis who are not Gonds and on that account the appellant was not qualified to stand for election from the reserved constituency. The appellant denied that he was a Kshatriya Badwaik Mana and claimed that he belonged to the Mana community which was one of the aboriginal races in the Chanda District and was included in the list of scheduled Tribes in the Scheduled Tribes Order. He asserted that there was only one caste or community called Mana in Chanda District and there were not two communities Gond Mana and Kshairiya Mana as allege