JUDGMENT - Dr. CHANDRACHUD D.Y., J.:---Rule, made returnable forthwith. Counsel for the respondents waive service of rule on behalf of the respective respondents.

A. The compass of the controversy

2. Reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes and for the backward classes is an important component of the policy of the State of ensuring electoral representation to these communities in institutions of local self governance. Equally, there is legislative recognition of the concern that affirmative action programmes must reach out to those who genuinely belong to the communities for whom they are designed. Election to a local self governing body on a reserved seat, of a candidate who does not belong to the community for whom the seat is reserved is destructive of the object and purpose of the reservation. A candidate who does not belong to the class for whom the seat is reserved in a democratically elected body does not truly represent the class. This concern led to the enactment by the legislature of two Acts in the State of Maharashtra. The first is the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward

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