JUDGMENT :

Prasanna B. Varale, J.

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally by consent of parties.

2. The Petitioner by way of the present petition challenges the order passed by the Respondent No.2-District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Kolhapur (hereinafter referred to as ‘Scrutiny Committee’ for the sake of brevity) dated 30th September 2021 whereby claim of the Petitioner is invalidated. Few facts giving rise to the present petition are summarized as follows.

3. Election of Gram Panchayat, Village Rui, Taluka Hatkanangle, District Kolhapur was declared for the tenure of 2021 to 2026. The Petitioner contested the election for the post reserved for OBC women category. The Petitioner was elected from Ward No.1 and necessary certificate dated 18th January 2021 was issued by the Election Officer. Copy of the same is placed on record as Exhibit-B on Page-21of the paper-book. As the Petitioner had contested election as a candidate belonging to reserved category, the claim of the Petitioner was needed to be referred for validation. It seems that apart from these requirements as there was a complaint raised by Respondent No.5 Dipak Sathe, the claim of the Petitioner was