Ku. Durga Nandkishor Bojje vs District Caste Certificate ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 8145 Bom

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                  IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                                   NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR


                               WRIT PETITION No.3534 OF 2022


        Ku. Durga Nandkishor Bojje,
        Aged 32 years,
        Occupation : Nil,
        R/o. Mill Colony, Achalpur,
        Tah. Achalpur, District Akola.                       :     PETITIONER

                       ...VERSUS...

        District Caste Certificate Scrutiny
        Committee, Amravati,
        Through its Member - Secretary,
        Tah. And District Amravati.                         :      RESPONDENT

        =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
        Shri Ram D. Karode, Advocate for Petitioner.
        Smt. Kalyani Deshpande, Assistant Government Pleader for
        Respondent.
        =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

        CORAM           :      A.S.Chandurkar & Urmila Joshi-Phalke, JJ.

DATE : 22nd August, 2022.

ORAL JUDGMENT : (Per : Urmila Joshi-Phalke, J.)

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith.

2. The petitioner claims that she belongs to "Telangi" caste

which is recognized as Nomadic Tribes (C) at Serial No.29(10) of the

Orders of the Constitution of India. As per the contention of the

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petitioner she is pursuing her studies and her tribe claim had been

forwarded to the respondent through educational institution. The

respondent-Committee had forwarded the same to the Vigilance

Enquiry after Vigilance Enquiry notice was issued to her on 25.8.2021.

She submitted her explanation to the said notice on 17.9.2021 and

2.2.2021, by which she explained that the entries as "Kshatriya",

"Yadav Kshatriya" in the previous record of her family members were

inadvertently recorded, the old revenue document is of 26.11.1939

which specifically shows that her forefathers were "Telangi" by caste.

However, respondent-Scrutiny Committee had not considered the

same and invalidated her tribe claim on the ground that she failed to

establish her affinity with "Telangi" caste. In fact, the caste validity

certificate is already issued to her cousin brother Vyankatesh

Ashokrao Bojje. She has brought the said fact to the notice of the

respondent-Scrutiny Committee, but the Scrutiny Committee had not

considered the same and invalidated her tribe claim. Being aggrieved

with the same, she filed present writ petition on the ground that the

respondent-Caste Scrutiny Committee ignored the material document

and illegally invalidated her claim, due to which her education is

affected. The order passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee is illegal,

unjust and liable to be quashed and set aside. She also claimed the

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direction to issue her caste validity certificate.

3. In response to the notice the respondent-State opposed the

petition on the ground that the caste "Telangi" at Serial No.29(10) in

the list of Nomadic Tribes (C) initially came into force by Government

notification dated 21.11.1961 therefore petitioner has to produce the

documentary evidence of caste and residence of her family in the

State of Maharashtra prior to 1961. It is further submitted that the

caste "Telangi" which is included in the list as the sub-caste of main

caste "Dhangar" which is at Serial No.29. Therefore, it is necessary

for the petitioner to satisfy the affinity of the main caste "Dhangar". It

is further contention of the State that caste "Telangi" is also included

in the list of NT-B at Serial No.2 as sub-caste of main caste "Beldar".

On verification and inquiry it is found that the petitioner failed to

prove her affinity with the caste "Dhangar" or "Beldar" and therefore

the order passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee is legal and justified

one and no interference is called for.

4. Heard learned counsel Shri Ram D. Karode, for the

petitioner. He submitted that the petitioner is the student pursuing

her studies. The caste validity certificate was required for further

studies. Her tribe claim has been forwarded to the respondent

through educational institution. In support of her contention that she

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belongs to "Telangi". She produced on record her school leaving

certificate which shows that her caste is shown as "Beldar" in the

school leaving certificate. She also produced the school leaving

certificate of her sister which also shows that she belongs to "Telangi".

The pre-constitutional document i.e. extract of rights of record of the

year 1939 issued on 24.11.1939 shows that her forefathers belong to

"Telangi". Said document is also collected by the Vigilance Committee

during the vigilance inquiry. Thus, the pre-constitutional documents

on record are sufficient to show that she belongs to "Telangi" caste.

She further relied upon the family tree which shows that Subhanna

was her great grandfather having one son, namely, Gangadhar

Subhanna (grandfather). Gangadhar Subhanna has two sons, namely,

Nandkishor and Ashok. Nandkishor is her father. She submitted that

the name of Subhanna is shown in the right of records issued on

24.11.1939. Her cousin brother Vyankatesh Ashok had already

granted the caste validity certificate of Nomadic Tribes (C). Her

brother Omprakash and her cousin brother Chetan Nandkishor Bojje

also obtained caste certificate of Nomadic Tribe. Though she had filed

all these documents and explained these documents in her reply. The

Caste Scrutiny Committee ignored the same. It is further submitted

by the petitioner that she explained the said documents in her reply

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filed before the Committee also. Learned Counsel Shri Ram Karode,

further submitted that even the Caste Scrutiny Committee observed in

the Order that the Nomadic Tribe "Beldar" is the caste and "Telangi",

"Telanga", "Munnar" are the sub-castes of the caste "Beldar" which

are included in the Nomadic Tribe (B) as well as "Dhangar" is the

caste and "Telangi" is shown as sub-caste in the Nomadic Tribes (C)

list at Serial No.29. The Committee had also referred in the order that

the Vigilance Committee had collected the document i.e. extract of

record of rights of the year 1939-40, wherein the name of Subhanna

who is the great grandfather of the petitioner is mentioned. Inspite of

all these documentary evidence Committee illegally invalidated the

claim.

5. On the other hand, learned Assistant Government Pleader

Smt. Kalyani Deshpande for the respondent submitted that the order

passed by the Committee is legal and justified one. The petitioner

failed to prove the affinity test regarding "Beldar" tribe. Therefore no

interference is called for.

6. Heard Both sides. Perused the record. Admittedly, the

brother of the petitioner, namely, Omprakash and cousin brother

namely Vyankatesh and Chetan had obtained the caste certificate of

Nomadic Tribe. Her cousin brother, namely, Vyankatesh Ashokrao

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Bojje approached to the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati and said

Committee had validated the claim of Shri Vyankatesh and issued the

caste certificate of Nomadic Tribes (C). The petitioner had also relied

upon the family tree collected by the Vigilance Committee during the

vigilance report which shows that petitioner has produced her family

tree which shows that Subhanna is her great grandfather had one son

Gangadhar (grandfather). Gangadhar had two sons namely

Nandkishor and Ashok. Nandkishor is the father of the petitioner.

Needless to say that not only the petitioner but Vigilance Committee

had also collected the extract of rights of record which shows that the

entry dated 24.11.1939 shows the name of great grandfather of the

petitioner, namely, Subhanna Rajanna and his caste was shown as

"Telangi". The entry further shows that the possessor's name was

entered after the death of one Shivdas and said entries in the name of

Shivdas was taken in 1937. The said document was not denied by the

respondent in the reply. Thus, pre-constitutional document collected

by the Vigilance Committee shows that forefathers of the petitioner,

namely, grandfather and great grandfather were recorded as

"Telangi". The petitioner relied upon the list of Nomadic Tribes List

(B), wherein "Beldar" is the caste and "Telanga", "Telangi" are the

sub-castes. As per the List (C) of Nomadic Tribes i.e. the central list

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(C) of other backward classes shows that "Telangi" is the sub-caste of

"Dhangar". These facts are sufficient to show that the entries in the

documents of relatives of the petitioner in respect of "Beldar" and

"Dhangar" are appearing which is the caste and "Telanga", "Telangi"

are the sub-castes. These facts are sufficient to show that the entries

regarding "Beldar" and "Dhangar" are not completely irrelevant or

adverse entries but they are related entries and will not come into the

way of petitioner for issuing her validity certificate. Her cousin

brother was already issued caste validity certificate of Nomadic

tribes (C). The petitioner has also claimed Nomadic Tribes (C) as per

the Nomadic Tribe List No.29(10). The documents on record

substantiate her claim. Hence, petition deserves to be allowed.

7. As the documents conclusively established that the

petitioner belongs to "Telangi" which is the sub-caste of "Beldar" and

"Dhangar" and in the light of the finding given above the petitioner is

entitled for the Nomadic Tribe validity certificate. In the above

circumstances, we find that the impugned order dated 29.4.2022 is

unsustainable, deserves to be quashed. Therefore, we proceed to pass

following order :

ORDER

(i) The Writ Petition is allowed.

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                                 (ii)       The order passed by the Caste Scrutiny

                  Committee dated 29.4.2022 is hereby set aside.

                                 (iii)      It is declared that the petitioner belongs to

                  "Telangi" Nomadic Tribes (C).

                                 (iv)       The Caste Scrutiny Committee shall issue

validity certificate in favour of the petitioner within a period of eight

weeks from the receipt of the copy of this judgment.

8. Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. No order as

to costs.

(Urmila Joshi-Phalke, J.) (A.S.Chandurkar, J.)

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