Ku. Vidya D/O Ramesh Sadar vs State Of Maharashtra Through ...
2017 Latest Caselaw 8625 Bom

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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

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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.

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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]





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