The Bombay High Court dismissed a writ petition seeking disqualification of an MLA on the ground of her caste certificate being proven invalid.
Brief Facts:
The petition has been filed to secure a declaration about the intervenor who has been elected as a member of the State Legislative Assembly in the elections held in 2019. The caste certificate of the intervenor was cancelled and the decision has reached finality up to the Supreme Court.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
The Learned Counsel for the Petitioner contended that since it has been concluded that the intervenor was not qualified to file nomination to a seat that was reserved for the scheduled tribe category, it is not a disqualification that she can be said to have incurred after she was elected. She was not eligible to contest the election because of the provisions of section 5 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The Counsel argued that the High Court, in the exercise of the powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, can declare the election of the intervenor as void and can declare the seat to be vacant.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned Counsel of the Respondent argued that though the intervenor’s scheduled tribe certificate has been conclusively cancelled, that would not result in automatic disqualification. In view of section 5 of the R.P. Act, the definition of “disqualified” contained in clause (b) of section 7, read with section 100 of the R.P. Act, clearly demonstrates that even in respect of a ground for declaring the election to be void because the returning candidate was not qualified to be elected to fill the seat can be only by way of an election petition.
Observations of the Court
The Court observed that when the petitioner has already invoked the statutory remedy available to him in law, his conduct in simultaneously seeking to invoke the powers of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution cannot be countenanced. For this reason alone, the petition is liable to be dismissed.
The Court observed that even if the matter is to be considered on merits, neither the Constitution nor the R.P. Act contains any stipulation regarding presentation of caste/tribe validity certificate when a candidate intends to contest the election to the State Legislative Assembly on a seat reserved for that specific category. Merely because the scheduled tribe certificate of the intervenor has been cancelled and the decision has reached finality, the consequences are not automatic.
The decision of the Court:
The Bombay High Court, in light of the observations made above, dismissed the petition.
Case Title: Shri Jagdishchandra vs The State of Maharashtra & Ors.
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Mangesh S. Patil and Hon’ble Justice Y.G. Khobragade
Case no.: WRIT PETITION NO. 12336 OF 2022
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. Y.B. Bolkar
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. D.R. Kale
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
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