MLA not automatically disqualified due to invalid caste certificate; election petition has to be filed: Bombay High Court on Latabai Sonawane

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently held that a sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) does not stand disqualified automatically only because his or her caste or tribe certificate was held to be invalid [Jadgdishchandra Ramesh Valvi vs State of Maharashtra]..A division bench of Justices Mangesh Patil and YB Khobragade made it clear that even when a caste certificate is held invalid, the process laid down under the Representation of the People Act (RP Act) of filing an election petition has to be undergone to unseat an elected candidate. The Court, therefore, granted relief to Shiv Sena MLA Latabai Sonawane (beloning to Eknath Shinde camp), whose Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate was declared invalid by the Bombay High Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court."Merely because the scheduled tribe certificate of the intervenor (Sonawane) has been cancelled and the decision has reached finality, the consequences are not automatic. The ordeal of resorting to the election petition under section 80-A of the Representation of the People Act will have to be undergone for unseating a returned candidate to State Legislative Assembly," the bench held..At the outset, the bench noted that the petitioner Jagdishchandra Valvi had already filed an election petition under Section 80A of the RP Act which was pending before the High Court. "When the petitioner has already invoked the statutory remedy available to him in law, his conduct in simultaneously seeking to invoke the powers of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution (by filing a writ petition) cannot be countenanced," the bench held.For this reason alone, the Court said, the petition is liable to be dismissed..The bench noted that Sonawane was elected as an MLA as per the provisions of the Constitution and the RP Act. "Unlike the specific provisions contained in various State legislations, neither the Constitution nor the RP Act contains any stipulation regarding presentation of caste / tribe validity certificate when a candidate intends to contest the election to the State Legislative Assembly on a seat reserved for that specific category," the bench observed. With these observations, the bench dismissed the plea..Advocate YB Bolkar appeared for the Petitioner.Advocate Mahesh S Deshmukh appeared for MLA Sonawane.Government Pleader DR Kale represented the State.Advocates AB Kadethankar and Alok Sharma represented the Election Commission of India..[Read Order]