S. B. SINHA, C. J.

( 1 ) THE above five writ petitions, although couched in different forms and seeking different reliefs filed by different persons, aim at cancellation/stay of panchayat elections the process whereof as directed by the Apex Court as also this Court must be concluded by 31-7-2001.

( 2 ) A. P. State Sarpanchas Assocation, Pilli Lakshmi Sailaja I, S. V. Seshamma, D. M. Varaprasad Rao and Lambadi Hakkula Porata Samithi are the petitioners in these writ petitions respectively.

( 3 ) WRIT Petition No. 9857 of 2001 (for short the first writ petition ) raises the question as to whether the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (for short the Act ) purporting to have been enacted in terms of Part IX of the Constitution inserted by reason of the Constitution (Seventy Third) Amendment Act, 1992 should be given effect to as it does not conform in letter and spirit thereon. Writ Petition No. 9862 of 2001 (for short the second writ petition ) raises the question as to whether the State has constitutional compulsion to enumerate the backward classes population in the State although the prayer made therein is confined only to issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to implement the judgment of this Court in Prakasam District Sarpanchas Association v. Govt. of A. P. , (2001) 1 Andh LD 143. Writ Petition No. 9879 of 2001 (for short the third writ petition ) raises the question whether reservation to the members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes could be granted in terms of 1991 census on the premise that their population figures of 2001 Census are available. In Writ Petition No. 9889 of 2001 (for short the fourth writ petition ), the principle of categorisation amongst the scheduled castes is in question inter alia on the ground that political right also comes within the purview of clause (4) of Article 15 of the Constitution of India. The last writ petition marked as W. P. No. 26415 of 2000 (for short the fifth writ petition ) centers round declaration of 6000 lambada tandas (hamlets) each allegedly having the population of more than one thousand as independent panchayat villages for the purpose of local self-Government and consequently in the absence thereof, whether any valid election can be held.

( 4 ) BEFORE dealing with the questions raised in the writ applications, it may be necessary to take stock of the background leading to the filing of these cases. In terms of provisions of Article 243e of the Constitution of India, the election for panchayats must be mandatorily held within a period of five years. The said elections had been held in the State of Andhra Pradesh in 1995. In terms of the aforementioned provisions, the panchayat elections were to be held before March, 2000 for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) and before October, 2000 for Grama Panchayats. A proposal was mooted as regard amendment of the constitutional provisions so as to have a three-tier Panchayat Raj System instead of five-tier Panchayat Raj System in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Pursuant thereto, a unanimous resolution was passed by the Legislative Assembly and it had been duly communicated to the Central Government for appropriate action. In the meanwhile, the State in exercise of its power conferred upon it under Article 213 (1) of the Constitution promulgated an Ordinance known Andhra Pradesh Mandal Parishads and Zilla Parishads (Transitional Arrangements) Ordinance, 2000 which came up for consideration before a Division Bench of this Court in State Election Commission v. State of A. P. , (2000) 3 Andh LD 456, whereon the provisions of the said Ordinance were declared to be unconstitutional. A special leave petition there against was filed before the Apex Court by the State of Andhra Pradesh which became infructuous as the Ordinance was allowed to lapse. In the said situation, the Apex Court directed that the election

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