(1) wp8778-11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO. 8778 OF 2011 Savita Vyankatrao Matrol PETITIONER VERSUS The State of Maharashtra & others RESPONDENTS ..... Mr. A.P. Bhandari, advocate holding for Mr. V.A. Bagdiya, advocate for the Petitioner. Mr. K.G. Patil, A.G.P. for the Respondent-State. Mr. S.T. Shelke, advocate for Respondent No. 2. Mr. K.D. Bade-Patil, advocate for Respondent No. 7. ..... CORAM : B.R. GAVAI AND M.T. JOSHI, JJ. DATED : 18th NOVEMBER, 2011 ORAL ORDER: 1. Leave to correct the cause title. Correction be made forthwith. 2. By way of present petition, the petitioner has made several prayers. Some prayers are for directions to the Respondent No. 3 and 7. ONe of the prayers is for direction to the Respondent No. 3/7 to issue the Certificate of Validity in favour of the petitioner. The other main relief is for a direction to the respondent authorities to permit the (2) wp8778-11 petitioner to fill her nomination form and contest the election for Ward No. 3 of the Municipal Council, Hingoli. 3. Insofar as prayer clauses (B) and (C) of the petition are concerned, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner seeks leave to withdraw the petition, to the extent of those two prayers, with liberty to file a petition afresh for the same reliefs. The petition stands disposed of insofar as prayer clauses (B) and (C) are concerned with liberty as prayed for. 4. As regards the prayer for a direction to the respondent authorities to permit the petitioner to fill her nomination form and contest the elections for Municipal Council, Hingoli, Shri Bhandari, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that the caste claim of the real sister of the petitioner has been validated and as such, it is in the interest of justice that the petitioner should be permitted to contest the elections from a category reserved for Scheduled Tribe. The learned counsel submits that a special procedure has been provided by the Social Welfare and Special Assistance Department (3) wp8778-11 of the Government of Maharashtra, thereby establishing the District Level Committee for considering the validity of certificates of the persons who are desirous of contesting the elections to the Local Authorities. He submits that non- providing of the same special provision for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Tribe is discriminatory in nature and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. 5. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that unless the lots are drawn and the reservation is provided, a person does not have knowledge as to which Constituency is reserved and only after that, he can apply for the validity certificate. According to the learned counsel, the reservation as provided in the draw of lots gives a cause of action to a particular person to apply for validity certificate. He submits that in that view of the matter, the special provision is required to be made for considering the caste claim of such a person within the stipulated period. (4) wp8778-11 6. By now, it is settled position of law that the right to contest the election is neither constitutional, nor fundamental nor a common law right, but it is a purely statutory right. As to what qualifications should be provided for contesting a particular election is exclusive domain of the Legislature. By way of Amendment by the Amendment Act No. 13/2008, Section 9A of the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965, which governs the present elections, has suffered a change. By the said Amendment, the proviso which was there earlier, stands deleted. After the said Amendment, the statutory provision that is on the Statute Book, is as under : "9A. Person contesting election for reserved seats to submit Caste Certificate and Validity Certificate - Every person desirous of contesting election to a seat reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or, as the case may be, Backward Class of Citizens, shall be required to submit, alongwith the nomination paper, Caste Certificate issued by the Competent Authority and the Validity Certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled (5) wp8778-11 Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certification Act, 2000." 7. It can thus be seen that the statutory provision clearly provides that the candidate desirous of contesting the election from a reserved category, has to submit the Caste Certificate issued by the Competent Authority and the Validity Certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee, alongwith his/her nomination paper. As a corollary thereof, unless a Validity Certificate is submitted alongwith the nomination paper, a person desirous of contesting from a reserved category is not eligible to contest the election. 8. If the prayer as sought by the petitioner for directions to the respondents authorities to permit her to fill her nomination paper to contest the election without insisting for submission of Validity Certificate, is granted, we will be directing the authorities to act contrary to the statutory provisions. We are afraid as to whether (6) wp8778-11 that can be done under our extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. 9. Insofar as the special provision is concerned, it is for the Executive to consider as to whether such a special provision is also required to be made in case of the Committees working under the Special Tribe Department. Merely because some statutory provision is made for considering the validity of the certificates of the persons, belonging to Scheduled Caste, Vimukta Jatis, Nomadic Tribes and Other Backward Classes, cannot be a ground to seek a writ of mandamus against the respondent authorities. In any case, the petitioner has not prayed in the petition that since a special provision is made by the Social Welfare and Special Assistance Department of the Govt. of Maharashtra, the State should also be directed to make a special provision for considering the validity of the certificates of the candidates who are belonging to Scheduled Tribes. In that view of the matter, the contention raised in that respect by the learned counsel for the petitioner cannot be considered by us. (7) wp8778-11 10. Insofar as the second contention of the petitioner that only after the reservation is made by draw of lots, it gives cause of action, we find that the said contention is without substance. A person requires the Validity Certificate for various purposes like service benefits and education of his children, whose caste claims cannot be validated unless there is some document in favour of the parents of such children. 11. In that view of the matter, the petitioner has not made out any case for interference by this Court. The Writ Petition is, therefore, rejected. [M.T. JOSHI, J.] [B.R. GAVAI, J.] npj/wp8778-11