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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR
Writ Petition No. 2609 of 2000
Ku. Jayashree daughter of Deepak
Mahajan,
aged 19 years,
occupation student,
resident of Shivaji Chowk,
Pusad,
Distt. Yavatmal. ..... Petitioner.
Versus
1. The Scheduled Tribe Caste
Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, Nagpur.
3. The Maharashtra University of
Health Sciences,
Nashik. .... Respondents.
*****
Mr. S. N. Tapadia, Adv., holding for Mr. V.V. Bhangde, Adv., for
the petitioner.
Mr. H. Dhumale, Asstt. Govt. Pleader for respondent no.1.
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CORAM : B. R. GAVAI AND
A. S. CHANDURKAR, JJ.
Date : 03rd April, 2017 ORAL JUDGMENT [Per A.S. Chandurkar, J.]:
01. The petitioner has challenged the order dated 5th June, 2000 passed by the Scrutiny Committee invalidating the Caste Certificate of the petitioner.
02. It is the case of the petitioner that she belongs to "Halba" - Scheduled Tribe. For the purposes of pursuing her education, her caste claim was referred to the Scrutiny Committee and by order dated 05th June, 2000, her claim came to be invalidated. While admitting the Writ Petition, this Court by order dated 9th July, 2001 directed the Vigilance Cell to conduct an enquiry with regard to documents dated 4th February, 1917 and 26th December, 1924 relating to her forefathers. Pursuant thereto, report of the Vigilance Cell has been placed on record.
03. Shri S. N. Tapadia, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that as per the document dated 4th February, 1917, the name of the petitioner's grand-father was shown with a remark that he ::: Uploaded on - 06/04/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 07/04/2017 00:48:45 ::: wp2609.00 3 belonged to "Halbi" - Scheduled Tribe. According to him, her grand- father changed the surname from "Sherkar" to "Mahajan" and for said purpose, he relied upon the Premium Receipt dated 5th December, 1951 which was issued by the New India Assurance Company Ltd., showing the name of her grand-father as "Vishnu Bansi Sherkar - Mahajan". He submitted that as per the second report of the Vigilance Cell, the old documents indicated the relationship between the parties and on that count, the claim of the petitioner could not have been invalidated.
04. Shri H. Dhumale, learned Asstt. Govt. Pleader for the respondent no.1, supported the impugned order. He submitted that there was no material on record to indicate that Bansi Sherkar was the grand-father of the petitioner. The time and the reason for change in surname was not brought on record. He further submitted that old caste entries showed that the petitioner and her forefathers belonged to Koshti, which was not a Scheduled Tribe.
05. With the assistance of learned counsel for the parties, we have perused the documents filed on record. We have also gone through the second report of the Vigilance Cell that was obtained pursuant to the interim directions issued in the Writ Petition. Perusal ::: Uploaded on - 06/04/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 07/04/2017 00:48:45 ::: wp2609.00 4 of that report of the Vigilance Cell indicates that the uncle of the petitioner could not indicate the reason and time when his father had changed the surname from Sherkar to Mahajan. Other documents considered by the Vigilance Cell pertain to the paternal relatives of the petitioner of the years 1949 and 1958 indicating the caste to be recorded as "Koshti." Considering this report of the Vigilance Cell along with the documents relied upon by the petitioner, we do not find that the Scrutiny Committee committed any error while rejecting the caste claim of the petitioner. In absence of any material in the form of either genealogical tree indicating relationship with Vishnu Bansi Sherkar or material to indicate the manner in which the petitioner's grand-father changed his surname, the order passed by the Scrutiny Committee cannot be faulted.
06. In view of aforesaid, the Writ Petition stands dismissed with no order as to costs.
Judge Judge
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