Filing of caste certificate is mandatory requirement for contesting election from reserved seat under statutory rules.

The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of

India has been filed challenging the order dated 16.11.2023

(Annexure P-16) passed by the Commissioner, Jabalpur Division,

Jabalpur (MP), whereby the election of the petitioner to the post of

Member, Zila Panchayat, has been set aside by allowing the

election petition filed by the present respondent No.1.

2.

The said election has been set aside on the ground that the

seat in question was reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and the

petitioner is not a member of SC community, hence, is

disqualified to be elected from a reserved seat for that category.

Further, fresh election has been ordered in the constituency.

3.

The learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner,

while assailing the order of the Election Tribunal of the

Commissioner, states that the petitioner is a member of Bagdi

Caste, which is duly notified Scheduled Caste for the State of

Madhya Pradesh, and is entered at Sr. No. 2 for the list of SCs for

the State of Madhya Pradesh.

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4.

The learned counsel submits that though the petitioner had

not submitted a copy of the caste certificate, but that was for the

reason that the caste certificates of Bagdi caste members are not

being issued by the authorities in Seoni and the petitioner cannot

be put to a fault for this. It is also submitted that his cousin

brothers namely Pramod Singh Baghel and Satyendra Singh

Baghel have duly been issued the caste certificate of Bagdi caste,

annexed at page 49 and 50 of the petition. It is also submitted that

earlier the petitioner was issued the temporary caste certificate by

the Naib Tehsildar, however, no permanent certificate could be

isued due to the stubborn attitude of the authorities in not issuing

fresh certificates of Bagdi Caste in Seoni District.

5.

The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that

there is no statutory requirement that a member of reserved

community should file copy of his caste certificate in Panchayat

election in State of Madhya Pradesh. The learned counsel refers to

Rule 40-A of M.P. Panchayat Nirvachan Niyam 1995, to state that

if it comes to notice of the Returning Officer that the nomination

paper of any candidate has been accepted for a seat reserved for

SC, ST or OBC, though the said person prima-facie does not

appear to be a member of such community, then the Returning

Officer shall ask the candidate to file an affidavit to that effect that

he is member of such category, and then no further enquiry will be

held. The learned counsel further submits that there is no

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provision of any enquiry at any later stage during the election

process to that effect. Thus, it is the contention of the learned

counsel for the petitioner, that the question gets buried for the

purpose of election and a person, merely by submitting affidavit of

being member of a reserved community, can very well contest the

election, though he may not be having caste certificate of that

reserved category. The learned senior counsel submits that the

proposition may seem outrageous, but that is what the rule

provides.

6.

It is the further case of petitioner that merely submitting a

certificate of being a member of reserved category is sufficient,

and that the election tribunal also cannot conduct an enquiry to the

aspect of caste status, as that jurisdiction is vested only in the

Higher Level Committee as per the judgement in case of Kumari

Madhuri Patil Vs. Addl. Commissioner Tribal Development &

Ors; 1994 (6) SCC 241. It is the case of the petitioner that the

Election Tribunal, while carrying out enquiry into the caste status

of the petitioner, has acted contrary to the aforesaid judgement of

the Supreme Court, and has assumed the jurisdiction of the Higher

Level Committee, and decided a question, for which it was not

having the technical expertise.

7.

The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that

the earlier instructions issued by the State Election Commission

on 05.12.2014 (page 73 o