IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO : 5687 of 2009 Between: P.B. Srinivas S/o. Late Raja jagannadha Sanyasiraju Door NO. 1-430, Makkuva Road, Salur, Vizianagaram District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Returning Officer, Salur Assembly Constituency, O/o. Tahsildar, Salur Vizianagaram District. 2 The District Election Officer and District Collector, Collectorate, Vizianagaram, Vizianagaram District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue a writ order or direction more particularly a writ in the nature of writ of Mandmaus declaring the action of the 1st respondent i.e, the Returning Officer, Salur Assembly Constituency, Vizianagaram District in passing contradictory orders and rejecting the nomination of the candidates in the 1999 Elections by not complying Section 21 of Andhra Pradesh (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Classes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificate Act 16/1993 and accepting the nominations on the very same proviso in the year 2004 Elections by complying the Same Provision as bad, illegal, arbitrary oppose to law Contrary to the provisions of the Act and pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.M.VIDYASAGAR Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.S.NIRANJAN REDDY The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH AND THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.5687 OF 2009 ORDER: (Per VE,J) It is the case of the petitioner that he has been selected as a candidate to contest the election to Salur Assembly Constituency in Vizianagaram District on behalf of the Bharatiya Janatha Party, a National Political Party. The said Constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribe and is numbered as 132 by the Election Commission. It is stated that the Party will be issuing necessary B-Form to him so as to enable him to contest the election from the said Constituency. It is stated that the Tahsildar, Salur, issued a caste certificate in his favour in D.Dis No.2146/79 dated 28.05.1979 certifying that the petitioner belongs to “Konda Dora Caste” which comes under Scheduled Tribe, included as Item No.13 in the copy of letter Rc.15396/77 H.3 dated 12.09.1977 of the Director of Tribal Welfare (AP), Hyderabad, communicated in Collectors Rc.1733/78/N1 dated 31.01.1978. It is also stated that the said certificate should be treated as a valid certificate unless the same is cancelled under the provisions of Section 21 of the Andhra Pradesh (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Classes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act 16/1993. It is further stated that previously, candidature of similarly situated persons was rejected though they had valid certificates issued prior to Act 16 of 1993, on the ground that the previous certificates were not valid under Section 21 of the said Act and that they were required to apply and obtain fresh certificates as per the Government Circulars referred to in G.O.Ms.No.58. It is clear from the record that the said G.O.Ms.No.58 has not been questioned. It is not known as to whether the Tahsildar or the Revenue Divisional Officer is competent to issue the caste certificate in a non- scheduled area. It is also not known as to whether the caste certificate in question has been issued after duly conducting necessary enquiry. We are, therefore, of the opinion that we cannot go into the validity or otherwise of the caste certificate in question. However, it is for the petitioner to demonstrate his status before the Returning Officer by duly proving his caste and the validity of the certificate. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed at the stage of admission with liberty to the petitioner to demonstrate and prove his status before the Returning Officer. No order as to costs. ___________________ V.ESWARAIAH, J. ____________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J. 24th March, 2009. Note: Issue C.C. in two days. B/O VGSR