ABHOY PADA SAHA versus SUDHIR KUMAR MONDAL

Citation: [1966] SUPP. 1 S.C.R. 387 · Decided: 05-05-1966 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: A.K. SARKAR · Disposal: Case Partly allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

• 
A 
B 
ABHOY PADA SAHA 
v . 
bUDHlR KUMAR MONDAL 
May 5, 1966 
387 
[A. K. SARKAR, C. J .. J. R. MUDHOLKAR, R. S. 
BACHAWAT, 
J M. SHELAT AND RAGHUBAR DAYAL, JJ.J 
Con~truction (Sohedn!ed Castes) 
1950. 
Part 
13, Item 40-
"Sunris excbudin§" Sahns", Scope of. 
C 
When item 40 of Part 13 of the Schedule to the Constitution 
D 
E 
F 
(Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, declared "Sunris excluding Sahas" as 
a Schduled Caste, it indicates that men of Sunri caste but not those 
~vithin that caste who formed the smaller caste group of Sahas, are 
members of a Scheduled Caste. It does not indicate that Sahas are 
a caste distinct from the Sunri caste, nor was it intended to exclude 
from Sunris those members of that caste who bore the surname Saha. 
[391 A, D]. 
Therefore, when the respondent challenged the election to the 
West Bengal Legislative A55embly, of the appellant who described 
himself as a member of the Sunri caste, on the g"ound that he was 
a member of the Saha caste group but failed to prove the a1legation, 
it must be held that the appellant was a Sunri by caste and belonged 
to tho Scheduled caste specified in the item, even though he bore the 
surname Saha. [392 Dl 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 931 and 
1149 of 1965. 
Appeals from the judgment and decree dated July 31, 1964 of 
the Calcutta High Court in Appeal from Original Decree No. 613 
of 1962. 
N. C. Chatterjee, Ja11aradan Sharma, K. B. 
Rohtagi and 
S. Ba/akrishnan, for the appellant (in C.A. No. 931 of 1965) and the 
respondent (in C. A. No. 1149 of 1965). 
D. N. Mukherjee, for the respondent (in C.A. No. 931 of 1965) 
and the appellant (in C.A. No. 1149 of 1965). 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Sarkar, C.J. These appeals arise out of an 
election to a 
G 
seat in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Khargram 
Murshidabad constitutency reserved for members of the Scheduled 
Castes. 
The contestants at this election were Abhoy Pada Saha 
and Sudhir Kumar Monda]. Sudhir is admittedly a member of a 
Scheduled Caste. 
Abhoy Pada described himself in the nomina-
tion paper as "a member of the Sunri caste which is a Scheduled 
H 
Caste". Sudhir objected to this 
nomination contending that 
Abhoy Pada did not belong to any Scheduled Caste. The objec-
tion was rejected by the Returning Officer. 
At the election which 
388 
SUPREME MURT RF.PORTS 
(I 966) SUPP. 8.C.R. 
ensued, Abhoy Pada secured 16,730 votes and Sudhir, 15,523 and A 
the former was consequently declared elected. 
Sudhir then filed a petition challenging the validity of Abhoy 
Pad a 's election on various grounds. 
At the hearing of the peti-
tion by the Election Tribunal, however, he challenged the clcction 
only on the ground that Abhoy Pada was a member of the Saha JI 
caste and not a member of a Scheduled Oiste. The Election Tri-
bunal rejected this conlen1ion and dismissed the petition. Sudhir 
then appealed to the High Court at Calcutta which reversed the 
decision of the Tribunal and declared the election of Abhoy Pada 
invalid and set it a'ide on the ground that he did not belong to a 
Scheduled Caste. 
In his petition Sudhir had further claimed that 
he should be declared elected in the place of the appellant if the C 
latter's election was found to be invalid. This prayer. however, 
was rejected by the High Court. These two appeals are from the 
judgment of the High Court. 
Appeal No. 931 of 1965 is by 
Abhoy Pada. 
He challenges the validity of the order of the High 
Court setting aside his election. 
Appeal No. 1149 of 1965 is by 
Sudhir and he challenges the valicl:ty of the order of the High 
D 
Court rejecting his prayer to be declared elected. 
We shall first 
deal with Appeal No. 931 of 1965 filed by Abhoy Pada and shall 
hereafter refer to him as the appellant and Sudhir as the respon-
dent. 
Art. 332 of the Constitution provides that seats shall be re-
served for the Scheduled Castes in the Legislative Assembly of 
every State. Art. 341 gives power to the President to specify by E 
public notificaticn the castes or parts of or groups within castes 
which shall for the purpose of the Constitution be deemed to be 
Scheduled Castes. 
The President, on August 10, 1950, passed the 
Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 under Art. 341 setting 
out in its schedule the various castes which were declared Sche-
duled Castes. 
This Order was amended from time to time by 
statutes passed by Parliament and it is agreed that at the relevant F 

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