Bombay High Court
Madhukar Uttam Chavan vs State Of Maharashtra Through Its ... on 4 January, 2018
Bench: R.M. Borde
Sudhir Rane 1 29-WP-4940-2016.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO. 4940 OF 2016
Madhukar Uttam Chavan
Aged 48 years, residing at
Plot No.18-19, Akash Row
Bunglow-1,Chanakya Nagar,
Near Khutwad Nagar,
Kamatwade Shivar, Nashik ... Petitioner.
Versus
1. State of Maharashtra
through its Secretary,
Tribal Development Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai - 400 032.
2. Scheduled Tribe Certificate
Scrutiny Committee, Nashik
Division, Nasik through its
Member Secretary having its
office at Adivasi Vikas Bhavan
Old Agra Road, Nasik,
Dist. Nasik.
3. Dy. Superintendent of Police,
Nashik Rural, Nashik
4. Executive Magistrate,
Nashik, Dist. Nashik. ... Respondents.
....
Mr. R.K. Mendadkar a/w Mr. T.V. Jadhav and Ms. Priyanka Shaw
for the Petitioner.
Mr. N.C. Walimbe, AGP for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3.
....
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Sudhir Rane 2 29-WP-4940-2016.doc
CORAM : R.M.BORDE &
R.G. KETKAR, JJ.
DATE : 04th JANUARY, 2018
ORAL JUDGMENT (Per R.M. Borde, J.) :
1. Heard.
2. Rule. With the consent of the parties, the petition is taken
up for final decision at admission stage.
3. The petitioner claims to be belonging to 'Thakur',
Scheduled Tribe. He has been appointed as Police Constable as
against the seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category. The
tribe certificate issued to the petitioner by the Executive
Magistrate, Nashik on 13.01.1987 was produced for verification to
the Scrutiny Committee, Nashik. However, the Scrutiny Committee
has refused to verify the caste status of the petitioner on the
ground that the original place of residence of the forefathers of the
petitioner is from Jalgaon district and the competent authority to
issue the tribe certificate is the Sub-Divisional Officer / Executive
Magistrate, Jalgaon. According to the Scrutiny Committee, the
petitioner ought to have secured the tribe certificate from the
Sub-Divisional Officer / Executive Magistrate, Jalgaon and should
have submitted the same for verification to the competent Scrutiny
Committee. The Scrutiny Committee, as such, rejected the caste /
tribe claim of the petitioner and further directed cancellation of
the tribe certificate of the petitioner issued by the Executive
Magistrate, Nashik on 13.01.1987 and confiscated the same.
Sudhir Rane 3 29-WP-4940-2016.doc
The petitioner has been granted liberty to obtain the tribe
certificate from the competent authority and produce the same for
verification to the competent Scrutiny Committee.
4. The counsel appearing for the petitioner contends that it was
incumbent for the Scrutiny Committee to take a decision as
regards the status claim of the petitioner although the tribe
certificate has been issued by the Executive Magistrate, Nashik
which, according to the Scrutiny Committee, has no authorization
to issue the same.
5. The petitioner places reliance on the judgment of the
Division Bench in the matter of Niraj Kamlakar More Vs.
Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee & Ors. 2012 (6)
Bom. C.R. 221. The Division Bench of this court has taken a view
that the Scrutiny Committee cannot refuse to verify the status
claim of the applicant particularly on the ground that the
certificate has been issued by the authority, who does not have
territorial jurisdiction to issue such certificate for the reason that
the applicant is not the resident of the said area. A contrary view
is expressed by the another Division Bench and the matter has
been referred to a larger Bench for consideration. Apart from the
pendency of the issue involved in the matter with the full Bench,
the instant petition does not wait for adjudication of issue by the
larger Bench and can be conveniently disposed of by granting
liberty to the petitioner to obtain tribe certificate from the
Sub-Divisional Officer, Jalgaon and produce the same for
verification to the Scrutiny Committee, Nandurbar.
Sudhir Rane 4 29-WP-4940-2016.doc
6. The petitioner is in employment since 1989 and is occupying
the seat earmarked for the reserved category candidate. The
petitioner agrees to tender an application to the Sub Divisional
Officer, Jalgaon in proper format within a period of four weeks
from today together with the photostat / certified copy of the tribe
certificate issued to him by the Executive Magistrate, Nashik on
13.01.1987. The petitioner shall have liberty to approach the
Caste Scrutiny Committee at Nashik for issuance of the certified /
duly verified photostate copy of the certificate issued by the
Executive Magistrate, Nashik on 31.01.1987 and produced before
the Scrutiny Committee for verification. The petitioner shall tender
an application to the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Nashik for
issuance of the photostat / certified copy of the caste certificate
issued by the Executive Magistrate, Nashik within a period of four
weeks from today and the Scrutiny Committee, Nashik shall issue
the photostate / certified copy of the said certificate within three
days from the date of receipt of the application. The Sub-
Divisional Officer, Jalgaon, on receipt of an application for
issuance of the caste certificate by the petitioner, shall issue the
certificate in prescribed proforma without embarking upon further
enquiry into the matter and relying upon the photostate / certified
copy of the caste certificate issued by the Executive Magistrate,
Nashik on 13.01.1987 within a period of 15 days from the date of
receipt of the application. After issuance of the tribe certificate by
the Sub-Divisional Officer, Jalgaon as specified above, the
petitioner shall produce the same for verification together with the
proposal to the Scrutiny Committee, Nandurbar within a period of
six weeks from the date of receipt of the tribe certificate. The
Sudhir Rane 5 29-WP-4940-2016.doc
Scrutiny Committee, Nandurbar shall accept the proposal that
would be submitted by the petitioner directly and shall proceed to
verify the status claim of the petitioner in accordance with law and
the provisions of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes, De-notified Tribes, (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other
Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of
Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 and Rules
framed thereunder. The Scrutiny Committee, Nandurbar shall
take appropriate decision in the matter as expeditiously as
possible, preferably within a period of eight months from the
receipt of the proposal.
7. With the directions as above, the writ petition stands
disposed of.
8. Until the decision is taken by the Scrutiny Committee,
Nandurbar in respect of the verification of the tribe certificate of
the petitioner, the respondents shall not take any coercive action
against the petitioner.
9. Rule made absolute accordingly. There shall be no order as
to costs
( R.G. KETKAR ) ( R.M. BORDE )
JUDGE JUDGE
