The main legal point established in the judgment is the reliance on the Matriculation Certificate as the basis for determining age eligibility for contesting elections, as well as the requirement for compliance with the provisions of Section 40 of the Orissa Grama Panchayat Act in declaring a candidate as duly elected.

JUDGMENT :

A.S. Naidu, J. - The petitioner was elected as the Sarpanch of Alando Grama Panchayat in the district of Jagatsinghpur in the election held in 2002. Opposite party No. 1 who was also contesting for the post of the said Sarpanch in the election challenged the election of the petitioner u/s 31 of the Orissa Grama Panchayat Act before the Civil Judge (Junior Division), Jagatsinghpur, the Election Tribunal which was registered as Election Misc. Case No. 25 of 2002. The sole ground on which opposite party No. 1 prayed to set aside the election of the petitioner as Sarpanch was that the petitioner having not attained the age of twenty one years, as mandatorily required u/s 11 of the Orissa Grama Panchayat Act, was not eligible to contest the election. According to opposite party No. 1, the date of birth of the petitioner, as appears from her High School Certificate issued by the Board of Secondary Education, Orissa was 15.12.1982' and as such on the date fixed for filing the nomination for election, her age was nineteen years, one month and two days.

2. The contentions raised in the Election Misc. Case were strongly repudiated by the present petitioner in her objection stating inter alia that she was not below twenty one years of age on the date of filing of the nomination. According to her, she was shown more than twenty one years in the Voters List and as such was eligible to contest the election.

3. On the basis of inter pleadings of the parties the Election Tribunal framed as many as four issues and after scrutinising the documentary evidence and relying upon the High School Certificate of the present petitioner issued by the Board of Secondary Education (Matric Certificate) and other materials, held that the date of birth of the petitioner was 15.12.1982 and she had appeared in the Matriculation Examination in 1999. The date of birth mentioned in the High School Certificate, Ext. 2, was accepted as the correct date of birth of the petitioner and it was held that she was only nineteen years, one month and two days on the date of filing of her nomination. Having come to such conclusion, the Election Tribunal declared the election of the petitioner to the post of Sarpanch of Alando Grama Panchayat invalid. At the same time the Election Tribunal declared the election petitioner (opposite party No. 1 in this Writ Petition) who had secured the second highest votes and was more than twenty one years of age as the elected Sarpanch of Alando Grama Panchayat.

4. Being aggrieved by the said order of the Election Tribunal, the present petitioner preferred an appeal before the District Judge, Cuttack which was registered as Election Appeal No. 6 of 2003. The appellate Court also after analysing the evidence on record and the law on the point arrived at the conclusion that there was nothing to interfere with the judgment and order of the Election Tribunal and dismissed the appeal, thereby upholding the findings of the Election Tribunal. The judgments and orders passed by the Election Tribunal and the appellate Court are sought to be challenged before this Court invoking the Writ Jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India. "

5. Before examining the inter se dispute, it would be just and proper to examine the provisions of law. Section 11 of the Orissa Grama Panchayat Act deals with the qualification for membership in the Grama Panchayat. It stipulates that no member of a Grama Sasan shall be eligible to stand for election as a Sarpanch if he has not attained the age of twenty one years.

6. The sole dispute which requires adjudication in the present Writ Petition is as to whether the petitioner who was contesting the election for the post of Sarpanch of Alando Grama Panchayat in the year 2002 was eligible to contest the election, in other words whether she had attained the age of twenty one years. According to the present opposite party No. 1, the date of birth of the petitioner as recorded in her Matriculation C