IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No.21392 of 2008 DATE OF DECISION: DECEMBER 22, 2008 Krishna Rani .....PETITIONER Versus State of Punjab and others ....RESPONDENTS CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SATISH KUMAR MITTAL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH --- Present: Mr.P.S. Khurana, Advocate, for the petitioner. .. SATISH KUMAR MITTAL, J. (ORAL) The petitioner, who was elected as a Panch of Village Gram Panchayat Dhani Kartar Singh from the seat reserved for Scheduled Caste, has filed this petition challenging the election of respondent No.6 as Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat. It is the case of the petitioner that respondent No.6 contested the election of Panch from the seat meant for General Category. Admittedly, respondent No.6 belongs to Rai Sikh caste, which is recognized as Scheduled Caste and by producing the Scheduled Caste certificate, she contested the election of Sarpanch, which was reserved for Scheduled Caste and was duly elected by majority. In our opinion, merely because respondent No.6 was elected as a Panch of Village Gram Panchayat against the seat meant for General Category, she cannot be deprived from contesting the election of Sarpanch, which was reserved for Scheduled Caste category, by producing the Scheduled Caste certificate if she C.W.P. No.21392 of 2008 -2- belongs to Scheduled Caste category. This controversy has already been decided by this Court in CWP No.14300 of 2008, titled as `Gurmit Kaur Versus State of Punjab and others', decided on August 26, 2008, wherein it has been held that a woman belonging to Scheduled Caste, can contest the election for the post of Sarpanch, which is reserved for Scheduled Caste (Woman), irrespective of the fact that she was elected as a Panch of the Gram Panchayat from the seat meant for General Category. No merits. Dismissed. (SATISH KUMAR MITTAL) JUDGE December 22, 2008 ( JASWANT SINGH ) vkg JUDGE