The main legal point established in the judgment is that the vacant post of Sarpanch, as per the amended second proviso to Section 43 of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, must be filled by election from amongst the members of the panchayat themselves within thirty days from the date of such vacancy.

JUDGMENT

Vinay Joshi, J. - Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally by consent of the parties.

2. By this Writ Petition, the Petitioner is seeking direct appointment to the post of Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat- Ghoti (Kh), Taluka- Igatpuri, district Nashik. It is the Petitioner's case that due to the disqualification of the Sarpanch (Smt. Kokane) the post of Sarpanch became vacant hence he be appointed to the said post.

3. The facts of the Petition can be narrated in brief that the post of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat- Ghoti (Kh) was reserved for the Other Backward Class ("OBC") category from the year 2019 to 2024. The Petitioner belongs to the Hindu Kunbi caste, which is recognised as OBC. Smt. Kokane (disqualified Sarpanch) also claimed to belong to the Kunbi caste i.e. of the OBC category. The Petitioner as well as Smt. Kokane contested the election for the post of Sarpanch of village Ghoti (Kh), which was held on 26th June, 2019. The Petitioner lost the election, whilst Smt. Kokane got elected for the post of Sarpanch, reserved for the OBC category.

4. At the time of the election, Smt. Kokane had not submitted her caste validity certificate. However, she gave an undertaking that she would submit her caste validity certificate within a period of one year from the declaration of the election result. Smt.Kokane approached the Caste Scrutiny Committee for the issuance of the caste validity certificate. According to the Petitioner, Smt. Kokane does not belong to the OBC category, hence he raised an objection before the Scrutiny Committee for the issuance of the caste validity certificate in favour of Smt. Kokane.

5. The Caste Scrutiny Committee, after holding an inquiry has rejected the caste claim of Smt. Kokane for the OBC category, vide its Order dated 25th June, 2020. Consequently, the Caste Scrutiny Committee cancelled the caste certificate of Smt. Kokane for the OBC category. Being aggrieved by the said decision, Smt. Kokane filed Writ Petition (St.) No. 5573 of 2020 challenging the rejection of her caste claim. This Court vide its Order dated 27th October, 2020 dismissed the Petition and confirmed the decision of the Caste Scrutiny Committee in rejecting the caste claim of Smt. Kokane.

6. Consequent to the Order dated 25th June, 2020 passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, the Collector, Nashik in terms of Section 30-1A of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959 (for short the "Act") vide Order dated 14th July, 2020 had disqualified Smt.Kokane from the post of Sarpanch. The Petitioner states that he was the only other candidate from the OBC category, who contested the election for the post of Sarpanch. According to the Petitioner, as the post of Sarpanch fell vacant due to disqualification of Smt. Kokane, he should be appointed as the Sarpanch.

7. The State resisted the Petition vide Affidavit in Reply dated 8th February, 2021. So far as the factual aspect is concerned, there was no dispute about the disqualification of Smt. Kokane for the post of Sarpanch. It is not denied that the Petitioner also belongs to the OBC category and was the only other candidate, contesting the election of Sarpanch from the OBC category. Moreover, it is not in dispute that due to the disqualification of Smt. Kokane, the post of Sarpanch of village Ghoti (Kh) fell vacant. However, the State resisted the Petition by contending that in terms of amended second proviso to Section 43 of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, the post of Sarpanch is to be filled by way of an election from amongst the members of the panchayat. Hence, the State contended that as the Petitioner was not a member of the Panchayat, he cannot be declared as the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat.

8. In view of that, the limited controversy arose as to whether upon the post of Sarpanch falling vacant due to disqualification, another candidate could be directly appointed without election. The answer can be certainly in the negative, simply for the reason that the relev