Section 40A in The Chhattisgarh Panchayat Nirvachan Niyam, 1995
40A. Stay on elections in certain cases.
(1)Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, if it comes to the notice of the Returning Officer' at any time prior to the date of poll that the nomination of any candidate who, prima-facie, does not belong to a Schedule Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class, has been accepted for a seat which is reserved for Schedule Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes as the case may be, through over-sight or want of objection or for any other reason, he shall forthwith issue a notice to such candidate, asking him to file an affidavit that he belongs to the category for which the seat is reserved.(2)In case the candidate concerned files an affidavit, the Returning Officer shall make no further inquiry into the matter and treat the nomination as valid.(3)In case the concerned candidate fails to file an affidavit on or before the date specified in the notice; it shall be presumed that he does not belong to the category for which the seat is reserved and the Returning Officer shall report full facts to the following competent authority, as the case may be and seek its permission to review his own order, regarding the validity of the nomination, namely :(i)Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) in case of election of a Panch or Sarpanch of a Gram Panchayat;(ii)Collector in case of election of a member of Janpad Panchayat; and(iii)Divisional Commissioner in case of a member of Zila Panchayat.(4)The Competent Authority, shall immediately, dispose off every case referred to it under sub-rule (3), and communicate its order to the Returning Officer, as soon as possible.(5)After receiving the permission of the Competent Authority, the Returning Officer may review his own order and exclude the name of the concerned candidate from the list of validly nominated candidates prepared under rule 35 and from the list of contesting candidates, if such list has already been prepared and published the Returning Officer shall prepare a revised list of contesting candidates and publish it in accordance with the provisions of Rule 40 :Provided that if the concerned candidate has in the meanwhile submitted an affidavit in response of the notice issued under sub-rule (1), the Returning Officer shall not review his order.(6)If the Competent Authority fails to dispose off the case referred to it under sub-rule (3) at least five days before the day of poll or the mistake in acceptance of the nomination as specified in sub-rule (I), comes to the notice of the Returning Officer on a day where after a period of less than seven days is left for the day of the poll. the Returning Officer shall postpone the election of such seat and report the matter to the Commission through the District Election Officer.(7)The Commission shall, after satisfying itself that the Returning Officer has duly reviewed his order, issue; revised time schedule for completion of election for the seat in question.Chapter-VII Candidates and their Agents
