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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION NO.394 OF 2013
Ku. Vidya d/o. Ramesh Sadar,
Aged about 24 years, Occ. Nil,
r/o. C/o. P.N.Solanke, Aras
Layout, Buldhana, Distt.
Buldhana. .......... PETITIONER
// VERSUS //
1. State of Maharashtra,
Through its Secretary,
Social Justice and
Empowerment Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai-32.
2. The Divisional Caste Certificate
Scrutiny No.2, Amravati
Division, Akola, through
its Chairman.
3. The Chief Executive Officer,
(Primary), Zilla Parishad,
Pune. .......... RESPONDENTS
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____________________________________________________________
Mr.P.S.Khubalkar, Advocate for the Appellant.
Mr.P.K.Pathan, A.P.P. for the Respondent/State.
____________________________________________________________
CORAM : R.K.DESHPANDE
AND
M.G.GIRATKAR, JJ.
DATED : 10th November, 2017.
ORAL JUDGMENT (Per R.K.Deshpande, J) :
1. The Caste Certificate dt.10.3.2010 issued by the Sub- Divisional Officer, Buldhana certifying that the petitioner belongings to 'Rajput Bhamta' caste, which is an entry at Serial No.10 in the list of Recognized Vimukta Jatis prepared under the Government Resolution dt.21.11.1961, has been invalidated by the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee by it's order dt.23.10.2012. Hence, this Writ Petition.
2. The Committee has held that the petitioner has failed to establish his affinity with 'Rajput Bhamta' (Vimukta Jati), which is an entry at Serial No.10 in the said list. It also records a finding that all ::: Uploaded on - 16/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 17/11/2017 01:04:43 ::: 3 wp394.13.odt the documents produced are of the period subsequent to 1961, which do not bear any probative value.
3. The petitioner has produced about 39 documents of blood relatives regarding the entry of 'Rajput Bhamta' (Vimukta Jati). It is not possible to confirm the findings of the Scrutiny Committee that all these 39 documents have no evidentiary value. If the document had been of the period prior to 1961, it would have a probative value, but consistent entries in the paternal relatives of the petitioner in the School records indicate their caste as 'Rajput Bhamta' (Vimukta Jati), which cannot be ignored altogether. The function of the Scrutiny Committee is to find out as to whether there is any material available in support of the case of petitioner for grant of validity for his caste claim. There is not even a single document on record, though an inquiry through Police Vigilance Cell was conducted, to show that the caste of the paternal relatives of petitioner is other than 'Rajput Bhamta'. The Committee has, therefore, committed an error in ignoring all these documents, the authenticity of which is not at all disputed.
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4. The Committee has held that the tests and characteristics answered by the petitioner, do not match with those of 'Rajput Bhamta' in respect of two items i.e. (1) the tradition and occupation and (2) family deity. It is not in dispute that the tradition and occupation of Rajput Bhamta was of dacoity or road robbery and the petitioner has stated the same before the Police Vigilance Cell, which conducted the inquiry, prior to remand of matter by this Court. Be that as it may, now it would be a stigma on the person if he claims that he professes an occupation of dacoity or road robbery. The occupation stated by the petitioner is of agriculture and cattle grazing. The petitioner has stated the family deity as 'Kali Mata'. The Committee does not record that it is not the deity to whom 'Rajput Bhamta' do not worship. In our view, therefore, the findings on the affinity test recorded by the Committee are not supported by any authentic tests.
5. In view of the above, this Writ Petition is allowed as under :-
(a) The order dt..23.10.2012 passed by the Scrutiny Committee is hereby quashed and set aside. ::: Uploaded on - 16/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 17/11/2017 01:04:43 :::
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(b) It is declared that the petitioner has
established his claim for 'Rajput Bhamta' (Vimukta Jati), which is an entry at Serial No.10 in the list published under the Government Resolution dt.21.11.1961.
(c) The Committee is directed to issue Caste Validity Certificate accordingly to the petitioner.
(d) Rule is made absolute in the above terms. No order as to costs.
JUDGE JUDGE [jaiswal] ::: Uploaded on - 16/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 17/11/2017 01:04:43 ::: 6 wp394.13.odt ::: Uploaded on - 16/11/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 17/11/2017 01:04:43 :::