Bombay High Court
Pratik Pandurang Chavan vs The State Of Maharashtra And ... on 13 January, 2021
Bench: S.V. Gangapurwala, Shrikant Dattatray Kulkarni
982
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
982 WRIT PETITION NO.464 OF 2021
PRATIK PANDURANG CHAVAN
VERSUS
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER
...
Advocate for Petitioners : Mr. Yeramwar Sushant C.
AGP for Respondents State : Mrs. V. S. Chaudhari
CORAM : S. V. GANGAPURWALA &
SHRIKANT D. KULKARNI, JJ.
DATE : 13th January, 2021
ORDER:
1. Caste claim of the petitioner as 'Thakar' Scheduled Tribe is
invalidated. The learned counsel submits that father of the petitioner
namely Pandurang Ramkrushna Chavan is issued with the validity
Certificate of Thakar Scheduled tribe. Real uncle of the petitioner namely
Rushikesh Babasaheb Chavan is also issued with the validity certificate of
Thakar Scheduled Tribe.
2. The learned counsel submits that the committee has relied upon
the entry in the school record of the cousin grandfather of the petitioner
namely Nandkumar Keshav Chavan, wherein caste mentioned as 'Hindu' to
construe it as contra entry and another entry in the school record of
Rudranath Keshav Chavan, cousin uncle of the petitioner to suggest that
entry of Thakar is recorded subsequently. Both the entries were the
subject matter of consideration in case of Dnyaneshwer Nandkukar Chavan
who was issued with the validity certificate. The vigilance officer, in the
case of Dnyaneshwer Nandkukar Chavan did not find recording of Thakar
entry subsequently in the school record of Rudranath Keshav Chavan.
3. Learned counsel submits that the school record since the year
1961 of the cousin grandfather of the petitioner, paternal aunt, uncle refers
caste as Thakar. There are no contra entries on record. The learned
counsel relies the judgment in the case of Apoorva Vinay Nichale Vs.
Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, reported in 2010 (6) Mh.LJ
401 to suggest that when paternal relatives are granted validity, the
same is a relevant fact. The learned counsel also relied on the judgment
of the Apex Court in the case of Anand vs. Committee for Scrutiny and
Verification of Tribe Claims, reported in 2011(6) Mh.L.J. (S.C.) 919 to
submit that the affinity test is not a litmus test.
4. The learned A.G.P. submits that the petitioner could not prove the
affinity test. In the school record of Rudranath Keshav Chavan caste
Thakar is recorded subsequently. The same has been found by the vigilance
also. According to the learned AGP, if by suppression of fact, validity is
obtained, the same would not be a relevant fact. The petitioner also does
not originally belong to the place where Thakar community resides.
5. We have considered the submissions.
6. The petitioner relied upon the following documents to prove his
caste claim:
v-- 'kkGsps uko izos'k fo|kF;kps uko vtZnkjk'kh tkrhph izos'k fnukad 'ksjk
dz- v-dz- ukrs uksan
1 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 12 e/kqdj ds'ko pqyr Bkdj [email protected]@1961
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- pOgk.k vktksck
chM
2 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 81 ckcklkgsc pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1964
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- dslw pOgk.k vktksck Bkdj
chM
3 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 207 cyHkhe ds'ko pqyr Bkdj [email protected]@1968
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- pOgk.k vktksck
chM
4 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 348 uandqekj pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1968
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- ds'ko PkOgk.k vktksck
chM
5 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 426 #nzukFk ds'ko pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1970 iks-fu Jh-
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- pOgk.k dkdk Bkdj gk'eh ;kauh
chM gLrxr dsysY;k
fuxZe
mrk&;ke/;s
eq[;k/;kid
;kauh
/kekZP;kjdkU;k
e/;s fganq
'kCnk[kkyh Bkdj
gk 'kCn osxG;k
gLrk{kjkr uarj
fyfgY;kps fnlrs-
vlk 'ksjk
uksanfoysyk vkgs-
s6 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 491 vkck Hkkmjko pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1971
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- pOgk.k vktksck Bkdj
chM
7 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 503 e/kqdj ds'ko pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1971
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- pOgk.k vktksck Bkdj
chM
8 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 585 nz /kksaMhck vkR;k fgUnq [email protected]@1675 uko vLi"V
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- pOgk.k Bkdj fnlr vkgs]ek+=k
chM o nza fnlr vkgs-
9 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 677 fejkckbZ pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1976
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- jkefdlu vkR;k Bkdj
chM pOgk.k
10 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 686 fgjkckbZ pqyr fgUnqq [email protected]@1976
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- Hkkmjko vkR;k Bkdj
chM pOgk.k
11 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 1064 ikMqjax oMhy fgUnq [email protected]@1983
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- jkeÑ".k Bkdj
chM pOgk.k
12 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 1148 fla/kq pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1985
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- ckcklkgsc vkR;k Bkdj
chM pOgk.k
13 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh +& & eqDrkckbZ vkR;k fgUnq [email protected]@1987 izos'k dzaekd
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- jkeÑ".k Bkdj vksG[kr ukgh-
chM pOgk.k
14 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 1870 izoh.k pqyr HkkÅ fga-Bkdqj [email protected]@1995
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- vkcklkgsc
chM pOgk.k
15 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 2039 fdj.k pqyr HkkÅ fgUnq [email protected]@1998
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- vkcklkgsc Bkdj
chM pOgk.k
16 ft-iz-izk-'kkGk lkaxoh 2111 Kkus'oj pqyr fgUnq [email protected]@1999
¼ik-½ rk-vk"Vh ft- uandqekj vkR;k Bkdj
chM pOgk.k
7. The entry of Hindu cannot be said to be a contra entry. The entry
of caste Hindu in the school would only denote religion. The school entry
of Rudranath Keshav Chavan was also subject matter of consideration
when the paternal cousin uncle namely Dnyaneshwar Nandkumar Chavan
was issued with the validity certificate. Contra entries do not appear on
record. It is a matter of record that father of the petitioner Pandurang
Ramkrushna Chavan and paternal cousin uncle of the petitioner namely
Dnyaneshwar Nandkumar Chavan are issued with the validity certificates.
Vigilance was conducted in case of Dnyaneshwar Nandkumar Chavan and
the present entry which the committee finds to be suspicious was the
subject matter of consideration in the case of Dnyaneshwar Nandkumar
Chavan.
8. Considering the judgment in case of Apoorva (supra), the validities
issued in favour of father and cousin uncle of the petitioner would be a
relevant fact. Show cause notices are issued to the father of the petitioner
and uncle of the petitioner as to why their proceedings should not be
reopened.
9. In light of the aforesaid facts, we pass the following order:
ORDER
i. The impugned order is quashed and set aside.
ii. The Committee shall issue validity certificate to the petitioner of
Thakar Scheduled tribe. The said validity certificate shall be subject
to the decision that would be taken by the committee on the
proceedings reopened of the validity holders relied by the petitioner.
10. Writ petition disposed of. No costs.
(SHRIKANT D. KULKARNI, J.) (S.V.GANGAPURWALA, J.)
JPC
