( 1 ) AN important question of law touching the jurisdiction of this Court under art 226 (1) (b) of the Constitution of India to entertain writ petitions against an order of the concerned Returning Officer rejecting or accepting a nomination paper filed in connection with an election to a Taluk Development Board or a village Panchayat under the provisions of the Karnataka Village Panchayats and Local Boards Act, 1959, arises for consideration in these three writ petitions.

( 2 ) IN the first writ petition, the petitioner is aggrieved by the rejection of his nomination paper for election to a Taluk Development Board. In the other two writ petitions, the petitioners are aggrieved by the the acceptance of nominations papers of two candidates for election to a Village Panchayat. The Taluk Development Boards and Village Panchayats in the State are constituted and functioning under the provisions of the Karnataka Village panchayats and Local Boards Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' ). The election to the Taluk Development Boards and Village Panchayats is regulated by the common rules called the Karnataka Panchayats and Taluk boards Eleciiou Rules, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules' ). As these three writ petitions raise commons questions of law, they are being disposed of by this common order.

( 3 ) (A) Facts in W. P. 5014 of 1978 : The petitioner filed his nomination paper for election as member of the Taluk Development Board, Hubli Taluk, from Noolvi constituency as against a seat reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes after the calendar of events was published on 10-4-1978 before the prescribed date and time. In the nomination paper, the petitioner mentioned his caste as Kali (Harijan ). According to the petitioner while the word 'harijan' is the colloquial common name, for all the persons belonging to the scheduled castes, the word 'kali, denotes the name of the subgroup to which the petitioner belongs indicating his profession, namely, blowing the trumpet. According to him he belongs to 'madar' caste which is one of the scheduled castes specified in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, issued by the President of India under Article 341 of the Constitution. As the petitioner had described his caste as 'kali' (Harijan) in the nomination paper, he produced the necessary certificate issued by the Block Development officer in support of his claim that he belongs to 'madar' caste, which is one of the scheduled castes, which consequently entitled him to contest for a seat reserved for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the said constituency. The certificate issued by the Block Development Officer reads as follows:" This is to certify that Fakirappa Kali son of Shri Yallappa of village Warur, Hulgari, Dist. Dharwar in the Karnataka State belongs to the Madar Community which is recognised as a Scheduled Caste under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes list (Modification) Order, 1956 read with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) act, 1956, the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order, 1956, the Constitution (Andaman and Nicobar) Scheduled Tribes Order 1950. Shri F. Y. Kali and his family ordinarily resident (s) in the village varur, Hulgari of the Karnataka State Territory. "in spite of the said certificate, respondent-3, who is one of the candidates who had filed nomination paper in respect of a reserved seat, raised-objection to the nomination paper of the petitioner on the ground that as the caste 'kali' (Harijan) mentioned in the nomination paper is not one of those castes as specified in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order issued by the President, his nomination paper should be rejected. On the other hand, the petitioner submitted before the Returning Officer that though he has mentioned that he belongs to 'kali' (Harijan) which clearly indicates that he belongs to the scheduled caste, in order to satisfy the requirements of l

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