JUDGMENT - Dr. B.P. SARAF, J.:---The question that falls for determination in this writ petition is whether a Councillor of Municipal Corporation who is elected to a reserved seat is eligible to contest the election for the office of Mayor when it falls in the general category. In other words, the controversy is whether all the members of the Corporation, whether elected on reserved seat or general seat, are eligible for election to the office of Mayor when it falls in a general category.

2.The petitioner, Ashok Kondiba Yenpure, is a Councillor of the Pune Municipal Corporation. He was elected to that post from a ward which was unreserved/open category ward. In the year 1997, the office of Mayor of the Pune Municipal Corporation was unreserved. The petitioner submitted his nomination paper for election to the said office of Mayor of Pune for the year 1997. The respondent No. 5 Mrs. Vandana Chavan, who was elected as a Councillor from a ward reserved for woman candidates, also filed her nomination for election to the office of Mayor of Pune. The nomination of the petitioner as well as respondent No. 5 were accepted by the Municipal Secretary, Pune Municipal Corporation, who was the

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