Bombay High Court
Darshana Bapurao Bawaskar vs The State Of Maharashtra Through ... on 3 August, 2023
Bench: Mangesh S. Patil, Shailesh P. Brahme
2023:BHC-AUG:16565-DB
1 1066.WP-8672-2023.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
WRIT PETITION NO. 8672 OF 2023
Darshana Bapurao Bawaskar ...Petitioner
Versus
1) The State of Maharashtra
Medical Education and Drugs Department, Mumbai.
2) The Scheduled Tribe Caste Certifcate
Verifcation Committee,
Aurangabad. Through its Dy. Director (R). ...Respondents
...
Advocate for Petitioner : Mr. Jadhavar Pratap V.
AGP for Respondents/State : Mr. S. K. Tambe
...
CORAM : MANGESH S. PATIL &
SHAILESH P. BRAHME, JJ.
DATE : 03 AUGUST 2023
PER COURT :
. Heard both the sides. The matter is taken up for fnal disposal
as the petitioner aspires to secure admission for the under
graduate medical course.
2. The petitioner is assailing the judgment and order dated
06.06.2023 passed by the respondent no.2/Scrutiny Committee,
invalidating her tribe claim of 'Koli Malhar scheduled tribe'.
According to the petitioner, the impugned judgment and order is
::: Uploaded on - 05/08/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 06/08/2023 00:21:27 :::
2 1066.WP-8672-2023.doc
discriminatory because the validity certifcate of her father was
discarded without valid reasons. The petitioner relies upon the
school record comprising of old entries, afdavit, vigilance report
and reply fled thereto and order of validity issued to her father.
3. The learned AGP supports impugned judgment and order.
According to him, the Scrutiny Committee has rightly rejected the
tribe claim. There is clinching evidence on record to suggest that
the caste of the petitioner was Koli, which is not a scheduled tribe.
The validity certifcate is unreliable because it was procured by
misleading the Committee on a false information. It is further
informed that the Committee has undertaken the re-verifcation
and a show cause notice to that efect is issued to the validity
holder.
4. We have considered rival submissions of the parties. The
petitioner is relying upon the validity certifcate issued to her father.
We noticed that there was vigilance enquiry conducted in case of
her father Bapurao Keshavrao Bawaskar. A report to that efect is
on record at page no.56, which shows that the entries in the school
record was taken into account. By a reasoned order dated
17.04.2008, the validity certifcate was issued to her father. We hold
::: Uploaded on - 05/08/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 06/08/2023 00:21:27 :::
3 1066.WP-8672-2023.doc
that due procedure was followed for issuing validity certifcate to
her father. In view of judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the
matter of Maharashtra Adavasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshak
Samiti vs. State of Maharashtra & others reported in 2023(2)
Mh.L.J.785, the validity certifcate is reliable.
5. The submission of learned AGP that the manipulation of
record was not considered in the case of petitioner's father, there
were contrary entries of close relatives showing caste 'Koli' and its a
false claim do not commend us. The Scrutiny Committee has
proposed re-verifcation of the validity holder's certifcate. We do
not ofer any comment on the submission of the learned AGP. The
matter can be re-examined during the re-verifcation. However, till
the validity certifcate of father is revoked, the petitioner is entitled
to enjoy similar social status.
6. For the reasons above, the impugned judgment and order is
unsustainable. We allow this petition partly by passing following
order.
ORDER
[i] The impugned judgment and order dated 06.06.2023 passed
by the respondent no.2/Scrutiny Committee is quashed and set
4 1066.WP-8672-2023.doc
aside.
[ii] The Scrutiny Committee shall immediately issue tribe validity
certifcate of 'Koli Malhar' scheduled tribe to the petitioner, which
shall be subject to the outcome of the re-verifcation undertaken by
the Scrutiny Committee.
[iii] The petitioner shall not be entitled to claim equities.
[ SHAILESH P. BRAHME, J.] [ MANGESH S. PATIL, J.]
Najeeb
