Bombay High Court
Prasad Ganpat Thakur vs The State Of Maharashtra And ... on 2 December, 2021
Bench: S.V. Gangapurwala, R. N. Laddha
(1) 1012-wp-2158-2019
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
WRIT PETITION NO.2158 OF 2019
WITH CA/3696/2019 IN WP/2158/2019
PRASAD GANPAT THAKUR ..PETITIONER
VERSUS
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS ..RESPONDENTS
...
Mr. Sushant C. Yeramwar, Advocate for the
Petitioner.
Mr. P. S. Patil, AGP for Respondents-State.
...
CORAM : S. V. GANGAPURWALA &
R. N. LADDHA, JJ.
DATED : 02nd DECEMBER, 2021.
PER COURT:-
1. The tribe claim of the petitioner as
belonging to "Thakur", Scheduled Tribe is
invalidated.
2. Heard Mr. Yeramwar, learned counsel for
the petitioner and Mr. Patil, learned A.G.P. for
respondents.
3. The learned counsel submits that, father
of the petitioner has been issued with the validity
certificate of 'Thakur', Scheduled Tribe. The same
is a relevant fact. Reliance is placed on the
judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in a
case of Apoorva D/o Vinay Nichale Vs. Divisional
Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No.1 and Ors.
reported in 2010 (6) Mh.L.J. 401.
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4. The learned counsel submits that, pre-
Constitutional and pre-Presidential Notification
documents of the great-grandfather and grandfather
of the petitioner records caste as 'Thakur'. The
learned counsel submits that, no contra entry
exists. The learned counsel further submits that
affinity test is not a litmus test. Reliance is
placed on the judgment of the Apex Court in a case
of Anand Vs. The Committee for Scrutiny
Verification and Others reported in (2012) 1 SCC
113.
5. Mr. Patil, learned A.G.P. submits that,
caste certificate itself is obtained by an
incompetent person. The father and forefather of
the petitioner on the notified date were residing
in the jurisdiction of Buldhana. The petitioner
and his father have obtained caste certificate from
Jalgaon District. The validity given to the father
was not on merit. In view of that, the affinity
test was applied.
6. Reliance is placed by the petitioner on
the following documents:
v- nLr,sotkps uko nLr,sotkaojhy vtZnkjk'kh tkrhph izos'[email protected]
dz- O;Drhps uko jDr ukrs uksan fnukad
1- 'kkys; iwjkok 'kkGk vacknkl ckcu pqyr vktksck Bkdwj 22-06-1936
fiaiGxkao dkGs rk-
tGxkao tkeksn ft-
cqy<k.kk
2- 'kkys; iwjkok 'kkGk fdlu ckcu vktksck Bkdwj 1941
fiaiGxkao dkGs rk-
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(3) 1012-wp-2158-2019
tGxkao tkeksn ft-
cqy<k.kk
3- tUe&e`R;q uksan jft- ckcu x.kir i.ktksck ---- tUe uksan
rk- tGxkao tkeksn ft- Bkdwj ;kl rkjh[k 08-
cqy<k.kk eqyxk >kkY;kph 07-1941
uksan
4- 'kkys; iwjkok 'kkGk x.kir fdlu oMhy fganw Bkdwj 25-06-
ikG/kh cq- rk- /kj.kxkao baxGs 1970
ft- tGxkao
5- 'kkys; tujy jftLVj izlkn x.kir vtZnkj fganw Bkdwj 03-06-2000
uequk uacj 1 jft-ua- Bkdwj ,l-Vh-
191 ikG/kh cq- rk-
/kj.kxkao ft- tGxkao
7. It would appear that, the documents
depicting caste being recorded as Thakur in the
school record of the petitioner's grandfather,
cousin grandfather from 1936 onwards is Thakur.
8. No contra entry exists. The father of the
petitioner has been issued with the validity
certificate. The same would be a relevant fact as
per the judgment of the Division Bench of this
Court in a case of Apoorva D/o Vinay Nichale Vs.
Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee
No.1 and Ors. (supra). The affinity test is not a
litmus test. In view of the fact that, not a single
contra evidence and that father is issued with the
validity certificate, we pass the following order:
ORDER
A. The committee shall issue validity certificate
to the petitioner of 'Thakur', Scheduled Tribe.
(4) 1012-wp-2158-2019
C. The said validity is subject to the decision
that would be taken by the committee in the
validation proceedings that would be reopened of
the validity holders relied by the petitioner.
9. Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs.
10. In view of disposal of Writ Petition,
Civil Application No.3696/2019 is disposed of.
(R. N. LADDHA) (S. V. GANGAPURWALA)
JUDGE JUDGE
Devendra/December-2021
