( 1 ) THE State Election Commission ( the commission for brevity) in exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of article 243-ZA of the Constitution of India read with Section 10-A of the A. P. Municipalities Act, 1965 ( the Act for brevity) and Section 9 of Hyderabad municipal Corporations Act, 1955 ( hmc act for brevity) as applicable to other corporations, issued notifications on 12-2-2000 calling upon the voters in municipalities and Municipal Corporations to elect Chairpersons/mayors/ward members. In accordance with the notifications issued by the Commission, various Election Authorities issued election notifications on 14-2-2000. As per the election notifications, the last date for filing nominations in the Municipalities and corporations is 21-2-2000. The various election Officers conducted scrutiny of all the nominations for the offices of chairpersons/mayors/ward members on 22-2-2000. The Election Officers rejected the nominations and passed orders of rejection. In all these writ petitions, the persons who filed their nominations for contesting elections to the wards in various municipalities have approached this Court questioning the rejection orders a