CWP No.18743 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Civil Writ Petition No.18743 of 2009 Date of decision: 27.4.2010 Darshan Singh ...Petitioner Versus State of Punjab & others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. HPS Ghuman, Advocate, for the petitioner. Rajan Gupta, J. (oral) The petitioner has sought a writ in the nature of certiorari for quashing the selection of respondent No.3 as Panch of Gram Panchayat Mallewal, Tehsil Nabha, District Patiala. Brief factual background of the case is that on 26th May, 2008, election to nine posts of Panches of Gram Panchayat Mallewal took place. Out of the nine posts, one was reserved for Scheduled Caste category, five for Male (General) category and three for Female (General) category. Respondent No.3 filed his nomination papers for the seat reserved for Scheduled Caste category and was declared elected. Grievance of the petitioner is that respondent No.3 does not belong to Scheduled Caste category and thus his election deserves to be quashed. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that respondent No.3 in fact belongs to Mirasi caste which is a backward class and thus, he cannot claim to be a scheduled caste. According to CWP No.18743 of 2009 2 the learned counsel, the election of respondent No.3 deserves to be quashed by issuing an appropriate writ. I have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and given careful thought to the facts of the case. The contentions raised by the learned counsel with regard to election of respondent No.3 are factual in nature. It is inexplicable how same can be adjudicated upon in writ jurisdiction of this court. Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to show as to how writ is the only efficacious remedy available to the petitioner. Admittedly, remedy of election petition was available to the petitioner under the provisions of the Act. The present petition is, thus, misconceived. The same is hereby dismissed. (RAJAN GUPTA) JUDGE 27.4.2010 'rajpal'