Bombay High Court
Ku. Chandrakala Shiocharanji ... vs Joint Commission And Vice ... on 21 July, 2016
Bench: V.A. Naik
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1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH AT NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION NO.2565/2016
PETITIONERS: 1. Ku. Chandrakala Shiocharanji
Sonkusare (Sau. Aruna Gangadhar Shripad)
Aged about 51 years, Occ. Member,
Nagar Panchayat, Mohadi.
2. Ku. Sunita Gopichand Hedau
(Sau. Shobha Maroti Burde)
ig Aged about Yrs., Occ. Member,
Nagar Panchayat, Mohadi.
3. Ku. Pushpa Pandurang Nandanwar
(Sau. Sunita Chandrashekhar Sorte)
Aged about Yrs., Occ. Member,
Nagar Panchayat, Mohadi.
All r/o Subhash Ward, Mohadi,
Tah. Mohadi, Distt. Bhandara.
...VERSUS...
RESPONDENTS : 1. Joint Commissioner & Vice-Chairman,
Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee,
Adiwasi Vikas Bhavan, Giripeth, Nagpur.
2. Collector, Bhandara, Distt. Bhandara.
3. Chief Officer, Nagar Panchayat, Mohadi,
Distt. Bhandara.
4. Tahsildar, Mohadi, Distt. Bhandara.
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Shri S.R. Narnaware, Advocate for petitioners
Mrs. K.R. Deshpande, AGP for respondent nos.1, 2 and 4
Shri Ankit S. Ambatkar, Advocate for respondent no.3
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CORAM : SMT. VASANTI A. NAIK, AND
MRS. SWAPNA JOSHI, JJ.
DATE : 21.07.2016
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ORAL JUDGMENT (PER : SMT. VASANTI A. NAIK, J.)
Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. The petition is heard
finally with the consent of the learned Counsel for the parties.
By this writ petition, the petitioners seek a direction against
the respondent - Scrutiny Committee to decide the caste claim of the
petitioners, within a time frame. The petitioners challenge the notice,
dated 26.4.2016 asking the petitioners to show cause as to why they
should not be disqualified from being the Members of the Nagar
Panchayat, in the absence of the caste validity certificate.
Shri Narnaware, the learned Counsel for the petitioners
states that the petitioners were not at fault in not producing the caste
validity certificate as their caste claim is pending before the Scrutiny
Committee for verification. It is stated that the Membership of the
petitioners on the Nagar Panchayat should be protected, till their caste
claim is decided.
Mrs. Deshpande, the learned Assistant Government Pleader
appearing for the Scrutiny Committee states, on instructions, that the
caste claim of the petitioners is pending before the Scrutiny Committee
and the matter would be referred to the Vigilance Cell for an enquiry. It is
stated that the caste claim of the petitioners would be decided as early as
possible.
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In view of the statements made on behalf of the Scrutiny
Committee, we allow this writ petition. We direct the Scrutiny Committee
to decide the caste claim of the petitioners, within a period of one year.
Since the petitioners were not at fault in not producing the caste validity
certificate, the Membership of the petitioners on the Nagar Panchayat is
protected, till their caste claim is decided.
Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms with no order
as to costs.
JUDGE JUDGE
Wadkar
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C E R T I F I C A T E
I certify that this judgment uploaded is a true and correct
copy of original signed judgment.
Uploaded by : S.S. Wadkar, P.S. Uploaded on : 22/07/2016
