Gujarat High Court
Dhaval Jejabhai Toliya vs Rajkot Municipality Corporation on 2 April, 2026
Author: Nirzar S. Desai
Bench: Nirzar S. Desai
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/4530/2026 ORDER DATED: 02/04/2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO.4530 of 2026
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DHAVAL JEJABHAI TOLIYA
Versus
RAJKOT MUNICIPALITY CORPORATION & ANR.
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Appearance :
NIYATI V VAISHNAV for the Petitioner.
MR AAKASH GUPTA, AGP for the Respondent No.2.
MR YOGI K GADHIA for the Respondent No.1.
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIRZAR S. DESAI
Date : 02/04/2026
ORAL ORDER
1. Heard learned advocate Ms. Niyati Vaishnav on behalf of the petitioners, learned Assistant Government Pleader Mr. Aakash Gupta on behalf of the respondent No.2 - State and learned advocate Mr. Yogi K. Gadhia on behalf of the respondent no.1.
2. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for issuance of the writ of mandamus inter alia for directing the respondent to appoint the petitioner as Medical Officer.
3. Learned advocate Mr. Yogi Gadhia appearing for respondent No.1 submitted that they have filed affidavit-in-reply and the Scrutiny Committee has sent the file to the Vigilance Cell for verification and the respondent No.1 - Corporation has been vigilant all along. He further submitted that unless decision is received, appointing the petitioner would not be possible.
4. Considering the submissions made by learned Page 1 of 4 Uploaded by R.N. SAVARIYA(HC00179) on Thu Apr 02 2026 Downloaded on : Fri Apr 03 01:03:46 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/4530/2026 ORDER DATED: 02/04/2026 undefined advocates for the parties, it would appear that the issue in question i.e. non-verification of the caste certificates of the present petitioner has resulted in the petitioner not being appointed and whereas, learned advocate Ms. Vaishnav would rely upon various orders passed by this Court whereby persons similarly situated to the present petitioner have been directed to be appointed albeit after reasonable period of time whereby the Scrutiny Committee would be able to scrutinize the caste certificate of the present petitioner. It would appear that such orders passed by the learned Coordinate Benches including this Court have been confirmed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court.
5. Considering that in cases of similarly situated persons whereby this Court has directed the respondents to provisionally appoint the petitioners subject to certain time being granted to the Scrutiny Committee, in the considered opinion of this Court, such orders are required to be passed in the present petition as well.
6. At this stage, this Court seeks to rely upon paragraph nos. 5 of the order passed by this Court dated 24.12.2021 in Special Civil Application No. 16851 of 2020 and whereas, it would appear that the said order has been confirmed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 08.11.2022 in Letters Patent Appeal No. 973 of 2022 and allied matters. Paragraph no.5 is reproduced herein below for benefit :-
"5. Having regard to the submissions made by learned Advocates for the parties, in the considered opinion of this Court, order dated 26.07.2021 passed by learned Co-ordinate Bench in Special Page 2 of 4 Uploaded by R.N. SAVARIYA(HC00179) on Thu Apr 02 2026 Downloaded on : Fri Apr 03 01:03:46 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/4530/2026 ORDER DATED: 02/04/2026 undefined Civil Application No. 1858 of 2021 confirmed by Hon'ble Division Bench was passed in similar set of facts and therefore the decision would be binding on this Court and whereas judicial propriety demands that this Court should also follow the same view as laid down by learned Co-ordinate Bench confirmed by Hon'ble Division Bench. Having regard to the same, it is directed that the respondents shall give provisional appointment to the petitioners, to the posts of (A) Police Constable (Armed), (B) Police Constable (Unarmed) and (C) Jail Sepoy subject to the final decision taken by the Scrutiny Committee. Such order shall be issued by the respondents within a period of three months from the date of receipt of writ of this order."
6. Having regard to the observations as above, in the considered opinion of this Court, the directions as issued at paragraph nos. 6 and 6.1 of the above referred order requires to be passed in the present petition also. Hence, the following directions are passed :-
(I) The Scrutiny Committee is at liberty to pass appropriate orders albeit after giving appropriate opportunity to the petitioner within a period of three months from the date of receipt of this order and whereas, the petitioner is also directed to cooperate with the Scrutiny Committee.
(II) In case the Scrutiny Committee fails to issue a final order as regards the caste certificate of the present petitioner, then Page 3 of 4 Uploaded by R.N. SAVARIYA(HC00179) on Thu Apr 02 2026 Downloaded on : Fri Apr 03 01:03:46 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/4530/2026 ORDER DATED: 02/04/2026 undefined the respondent Corporation is directed to issue provisional appointment orders to the present petitioner.
(III) In case after the order of provisional appointment, if the caste certificate of the present petitioner is not found to be genuine, then it would be open for the respondents to forthwith terminate the services of the petitioner or not further extend the provisional appointments.
(IV) In case the caste certificate of the present petitioner is found to be genuine by the Scrutiny Committee, then it would be open for the respective petitioner to claim seniority and all other benefits including, but, not limited to continuity of service etc. as would have been available to them if they had been appointed at the relevant point of time, more particularly, taking into consideration a date when juniors of the petitioner have been appointed.
7. With these observations and directions, the present petition stands disposed of as allowed.
(NIRZAR S. DESAI,J) SAVARIYA Page 4 of 4 Uploaded by R.N. SAVARIYA(HC00179) on Thu Apr 02 2026 Downloaded on : Fri Apr 03 01:03:46 IST 2026