( 1 ) THE petitioner Kalidas Karsandas Chavda residing at village Anguthan Taluka Dabhoi district Vadodara was aggrieved by the order passed by respondent No. 1 the Returning Officer who rejected his nomination paper for the election to be held of the concerned Panchayat. For the election in question the nomination papers were to be filled in by the contesting candidates by 5/01/1981 and the scrutiny of the nomination papers was to take place on 6/01/1981

( 2 ) IT is the grievance of the petitioner that his nomination paper was rejected on the ground of omission to mention the name of the scheduled caste to which he belongs It may be noted at this stage that at the relevant time there were only two contesting candidates and as the nomination paper of the petitioner was rejected on the ground of omission to mention the name of the scheduled caste respondent No. 2 Shri Nathabhai Mavjibhai Parmar was declared elected as an uncontested candidate.

( 3 ) IT is under these circumstances that the petitioner was aggrieved by the impugned order or action taken by the Returning Officer and has filed the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. In essence and substance the Returning Officer applied the provisions of sec. 33 (2) of the Representation of the People Act 1951 and followed the reported decision of the Supreme Court in V. V. Giri v. D. S. Dora AIR 1959 Supreme Court 1318

( 4 ) A the time of the hearing of the present petition Mr. Mehta the learned advocate for the petitioner strongly urged before me that in the instant case there is no provision in the Gujarat Panchayats Act 1962 which provides a statutory obligation on the contesting candidate to mention the namo of the scheduled caste in the nomination paper which he fills in. He also urged before me that even the plain reading of the rules framed under the aforesaid Act clearly indicates that no such obligation is imposed on the contesting candidate to mention in the nomination paper the name of the scheduled caste to which he belongs. It may be noted at this stage that it was an admitted fact in course of the entire hearing of the petition before me that the petitioner belongs to the scheduled caste and on that point there was no opposition before me.

( 5 ) RULE 12 of the Gujarat Taluka and District Panchayat Election Rules 1975 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) provides as follows :-12 Presentation of nomination papers and requirements for a valid nomination. (1) Nomination paper in Form 5 shall be supplied by the Returning Officer to any person asking the same. (2) On or before the date appointed for making nomination under clause (a) of sub-rule (2) of rule 9 each candidate shall either in person or by his proposer between the hours of eleven OClock in the foremane and three Oclock in the afternoon deliver to the returning Officer at the place specified in this behalf in the notice issued under rule-10 a nomination paper completed in the form specified in sub-rule (1) and signed by the candidate and by a voter of the electoral division as proposer:provided that no nomination paper shall be delivered to the Returning Officer on a day which is public holiday: Proulded further that no paper purporting to be a nomination paper of a candidate which is (a ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (b ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (c ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) On the presentation of a nomination paper the Returning Officer shall satisfy himself that the name and numbers in the list of voters of the candidates and his proposer as entered in the nomination paper are the same as those entered in the list of voters and if not invite the attention of the candidate or proposer as the case may be to this defect: Provided that the Returning Officer shall permit any clerical or technical error in the nomination paper in regard to the said names or numbers to be corrected order to bring them in confirmity with the correspond