THE HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE ALOK ARADHE
AND
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.V.SHRAVAN KUMAR
W.A.No.585 of 2009
JUDGMENT: (Per the Hon'ble the Chief Justice Alok Aradhe)
Heard Mr. Vedula Venkataramana, learned Senior
Counsel, who appeared through video conference and
Mr. P.Ram Prasad, learned Government Pleader for Social
Welfare for the respondents.
2. This intra court appeal is filed against an order dated 30.03.2009, passed by the learned Single Judge, by which a writ petition viz., W.P.No.10099 of 2002, preferred by the appellants, has been dismissed.
3. The parties in this order shall be referred to as per their ranking before the learned Single Judge.
4. The petitioners filed applications before the Mandal Revenue Officer, Cherla Mandal, Khammam District (briefly 'the MRO' hereinafter) for grant of Migration -cum- Caste ::2::
Certificates. The MRO made an enquiry and issued Migration
-cum- Caste Certificates to the petitioners on 27.04.2000. However, the District Collector, Khammam, cancelled the aforesaid certificates and directed initiation of criminal action against the petitioners, by an order dated 25.04.2002 inter alia on the ground that the petitioners are not entitled to issue of Migration -cum- Caste certificates certifying them as belonging to Lingadhari Koya/Koya (ST).
5. The petitioners, thereupon, challenged the aforesaid order passed by the District Collector dated 25.04.2002 in the writ petition.
6. Learned Single Judge, by an order dated 30.03.2009, inter alia held that the petitioners are not entitled to issue of Migration -cum- Caste certificates certifying them as belonging to Lingadhari Koya/Koya (ST). However, the petitioners were granted liberty to submit their claim for grant of Migration -cum- Caste certificates on the basis of any other ::3::
material in support of their claim as persons belonging to Lingadhari Koya/Koya (ST). The writ petition was, accordingly, dismissed.
7. In the aforesaid background, this intra court appeal has been filed.
8. Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners did not challenge the order passed by the learned Single Judge dated 30.03.2009 as well as the order passed by the District Collector dated 25.04.2002 insofar it pertains to the Migration -cum- Caste certificates issued to them.
8.1. It is further submitted that the petitioners are assailing the order passed by the District Collector dated 25.04.2002 only insofar it directs initiation of criminal action against them under Telangana (SC, ST and BCs) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1993 (briefly 'the 1993 Act').
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8.2. It is further submitted that the petitioners had applied for grant of Migration -cum- Caste certificates, pursuant to which, an enquiry was conducted by the MRO and thereupon, the Migration -cum- Caste certificates were issued to the petitioners.
8.3. It is further submitted that the order directing criminal prosecution of the petitioners is unjustified in the facts and circumstances of the case.
9. On the other hand, learned Government Pleader for Social Welfare submitted that Section 10 of the 1993 Act prescribes the penalties. It is pointed out that Section 10 of the 1993 Act provides that whosoever obtains a community certificate by furnishing false information; or file a false statement; or any other fraudulent means is punishable for an offence, which shall not be less than six months, but which may extent upto two years and shall also be liable to pay ::5::
fine, which shall not be less than Rs.1,000/-, but which may extend upto Rs.5,000/-.
9.1. It is further submitted that the petitioners are guilty of furnishing false information and therefore have rightly been ordered to be prosecuted by the District Collector.
10. We have considered the submissions made on both sides and have perused the record.
11. A Bench of this Court, while entertaining the writ appeal, had granted an ad interim order on 28.04.2009 with regard to prosecution of the petitioners. The petitioners had made an application for grant of Migration -cum- Caste certificates claiming the status of Lingadhari Koya/Koya (ST). On the application submitted by the petitioners, an enquiry was conducted and Migration -cum- Caste certificates were issued to the petitioners by the MRO on 27.04.2000. The aforesaid Migration -cum- Caste certificates had been cancelled by the District Collector, Khammam, by an order ::6::
dated 25.04.2002. The District Collector, Khammam, on the basis of enquiry report submitted by the Sub-Collector, Bhadrachalam, has recorded a finding that the ancestors of the petitioners never lived in Pedamidisileru Village of Cherla Mandal of Khammam District and the petitioners are not aware of any language/clan/customs and culture of Lingadhari Koya/Koya (ST). Therefore, it has been further held that the petitioners have not been able to adduce any documentary or oral evidence in support of their claim. Therefore, the order of the District Collector, Khammam, insofar it directs cancellation of Migration -cum-Certificates, issued to the petitioners, is justified.
12. However, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, we do not find any justification to order criminal action as per the provisions of 1993 Act.
13. Therefore, the order of the District Collector, Khammam, dated 25.04.2002, insofar it directs criminal ::7::
prosecution of the petitioners is set aside and the remaining part of the order insofar it pertains to cancellation of Migration -cum- Caste certificates issued to the petitioners is affirmed.
14. The order of dismissal dated 30.03.2009, passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.No.10099 of 2002, is modified accordingly.
15. In the result, the Writ Appeal is disposed of. No costs.
As a sequel, miscellaneous petitions, pending if any, stand closed.
__________________ ALOK ARADHE, CJ _______________________ N.V.SHRAVAN KUMAR, J Date: 23.09.2023 LUR