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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION No.696 OF 2002
Deorao s/o Tulshiram Narnaware,
aged about 43 years, Ocxcu. Service,
R/o Nagpur, Tah. & Dist. Nagpur. ... ... Petitioner.
-Versus.-
1. Committee for Scrutiny and Verification
of Tribe Claims, through it's Chairman,
Adivasi Vikas Bhavan, Giripeth,
Nagpur.
2. Nagpur Municipal Corporation
Through Commissioner of Nagpur
Corporation, Nagpur. ... ... Respondents.
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Mr. P. Dhok, counsel for petitioner.
Mr. N.R. Patil, AGP for respondent no. 1.
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CORAM : B.R. GAVAI AND P.N. DESHMUKH
, JJ.
DATED : 3rd March, 2016 ORAL JUDGMENT ( Per B.R. Gavai, J)
1. The petitioner has approached this court being aggrieved by the judgment and order passed by the respondent no.1 Scrutiny Committee thereby invalidating the claim of the petitioner of belonging to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe.
2. The respondent no.1 Scrutiny Committee has rejected the claim of the petitioner on the ground that there is 'Mana' caste which is a non tribal group and the 'Mana' which is a sub-tribe of Gond Community. The ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2016 ::: Downloaded on - 31/07/2016 07:37:33 ::: 2 wp696-02.odt Committee has also held that for establishing that a person belongs to Mana Scheduled Tribe, it is necessary that the person should establish that he is having an affinity with Gond Tribe.
3. We find that the view taken by the learned Scrutiny Committee is totally unsustainable in law. The Division Bench of this Court in the case of Mana Adim Jamat Mandal Vs. State of Maharashtra and others reported in 2003(3) Mh.L.J. 513 has specifically rejected the contention that only 'Gond Mana' are qualified as Scheduled Tribe. It has been held that the persons belonging to 'Mana' Tribe independently are entitled to benefit of Scheduled Tribe under Entry 18 of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders ( Amendment) Act, 1976. The said judgment has been upheld by the Apex Court in the case of State of Maharashtra Vs. Mana Adim Jamat Mandal reported in 2006(4) SCC 98.
4. In that view of the matter, we find that the impugned order passed by the learned Scrutiny Committee is totally unsustainable.
5. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner is having documents as earlier as of the year 1928 pertaining to his caste showing his tribe as Mana. We, therefore, quash and set aside the impugned order and remit the matter to the respondent no.1 committee for deciding it afresh in accordance with law.
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6. The petitioner is directed to appear before the respondent no.1 Scrutiny Committee on 14th March, 2016 and as such the requirement of formal notice shall stand waived.
JUDGE JUDGE
Hirekhan
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