ORDER

1. Petitioner a Grama Panchayat Member from a constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribe has been unseated by the learned II Addl. Sr. Civil Judge, Shivamogga vide order dated 01.02.2022 (Annexure-A) in Election Misc. No.3/2021 filed by the 1 st respondent- Smt.Abhilasha on the ground of lack of social status. After service of notice the 1st respondent is represented by a private advocate. Official respondents 5 & 6 are represented by learned AGA and the 7th respondent -State Election Commission is represented by its Panel Counsel. All the respondents oppose the writ petition making submission in justification of the impugned order.

2. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and having perused the petition papers, this Court declines to grant indulgence in the matter for the following reasons:

(a) There is no dispute as to petitioner does not belong to Scheduled Tribe, by birth, although she claims to have acquired the said social status by marriage to a member of scheduled tribe. Ordinarily, caste is determined by birth and caste of a person follows that of his/her father. That is why Mahabharath states: 'daivaa yatnam kule janma, purushaa yatnam pourusham'. True it is,