H.W. DHABE, J.:---These two Writ Petitions involve common questions of fact and law and can, therefore, be conveniently disposed of by this common judgment.

The petitioners in Writ Petition No. 2162 of 1985 are mainly the Communist Party of India and two individuals who are elected members of the Gram Panchayat in Nagpur District. The petitioner No. 1 in Writ Petition No. 2210 of 1985 is an organisation known as Adivasi Arakshan Saurakshan Samiti which is formed with the object of promoting and protecting the rights and interests of the Scheduled Tribes in general and in particular for the purpose of taking action in the matter of providing reservation to the Scheduled Tribes persons in the ensuing elections of the Zilla Parishad's and the Panchayat Samitis. The petitioners 2 to 10 in the aforesaid writ petition are qualified to vote and to be elected in the ensuing Zilla Parishad elections.

2. Two questions arise for consideration in the instant writ petitions. The first question raised on behalf of the petitioners in these writ petitions is that the definition of the expression 'population' which is newly substituted as Clause 20-A, in section 2 of the Maharashtra Zilla P