B BASAVALIGAPPA Vs. D MUNICHINNAPPA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of the Mysore High Court in an election matter. An election was held to the Bangalore South (Scheduled Castes) constituency in February 1962. Four persons stood for election including the appellant and Munichinnappa respondent No. 1, who obtained the highest number of votes and was declared elected. The appellant then filed an election petition challenging the election of respondent No. 1 on a number of grounds. In the present appeal we are concerned only with one ground, namely, that respondent No. 1 was not a member of any of the scheduled castes mentioned in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as the Order). Respondent No. 1 claimed that he belonged to the scheduled caste listed as Bhovi in the Order. The appellant on the other hand contender that respondent No. 1 was a Voddar by Caste and that Voddar was not a scheduled caste specified in the Order and consequently respondent No.1 could not stand for election from a scheduled caste constituency. The Election Tribunal held that the caste mentioned as Bhovi in the Order was a sub-caste amongst the Voddars and that only this sub-caste was included in the Order and not the entire Voddar caste. The Tribunal also held that respondent No. 1 did not belong to the sub-caste of Bhovi and, therefore, was not eligible for standing as a candidate from the scheduled caste constituency. Consequently the election was set aside and reelection ordered by the Tribunal.

(2.) Respondent No. 1 went in appeal to the High Court and his contention was that he belonged to the scheduled caste Bhovi mentioned in the order and was, therefore entitled to stand for election from the scheduled caste constituency. The High Court held Voddar caste as such was not included in the Order, but considering the facts and circumstances in existence at the time when the Order was passed in 1950, the Bhovi caste mentioned therein no other than Voddar caste. It, therefore, allowed the appeal holding that respondent No. 1 being a Voddar must be held t be a member of the Bhovi caste mentioned in the Order and dismissed the election petition. The High Court having refused leave to appeal, the appellant got special leave from this Court and that is how the matter has come up before us.

(3.) The main contention on behalf of the appellant is that a person is only entitled to stand for election from a scheduled caste constituency if he is a member of a caste specifier in the Order and that it is, not open to anyone to claim that though he is not a member of a caste specified in the order and is a member of some other caste that other caste is included in the caste specified in the Order. It is submitted that where a caste has more than one name, the Order specifies the other name in brackets. and that even where a particular caste is spelt in more than one way, the Order has included in the same entry the various spelling of the same caste. Therefore as the caste Bhovi specified in the Order does not mention the caste Voddar in brackets thereafter, it was not open to the Tribunal to take evidence to the effect the Voddar caste is no other than the Bhovi caste. It is, therefore urged that the High Court was wrong in looking into the evidence that was produced before the Tribunal and then coming to the conclusion that the caste Bhovi mentioned in the Order was meant for the caste Voddar and that such evidence should not have been allowed by the Tribunal. If such evidence had not been allowed the respondent who is a Voddar by caste could not stand for election for the Voddar caste is not mentioned in the order at all.