Ku. Palak D/O Vinod Murai vs The District Caste Certificate ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 8283 Bom

WP-4305-2023                                    1                        Judgment

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

                     WRIT PETITION NO. 4305 OF 2023

Ku. Palak d/o Vinod Murai,
aged about 18 years, Occ. Student,
R/o Near Murai Palace,
Shegaon Naka, Tarangan Nagar,
Shegaon Naka V.M.V., Amravati - 444604.
                                                                      PETITIONER
                                 .....VERSUS.....
The District Caste Certificate Verification Scrutiny Committee,
through its President Member Secretary, Amravati.
                                                                    RESPONDENT

               Shri V.R. Choudhari, Advocate for the petitioner.
       Ms S.S. Jachak, Assistant Government Pleader for the respondent.



CORAM : A. S. CHANDURKAR AND MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, JJ.
DATE : AUGUST 11, 2023
ORAL JUDGMENT :(PER : A.S. CHANDURKAR, J.)



                RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard the

learned counsel for the parties.


2]              Since the petitioner seeks to pursue higher education, the

Writ Petition is taken-up for final disposal.


3]              The petitioner is aggrieved by the order passed by the

Scrutiny Committee dated 23/5/2023 invalidating her claim of belonging

to 'Ahir' - Other Backward Class.


4]              Inter alia, the petitioner has relied upon five validity



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certificates issued to various blood relatives from her paternal side. In

addition, the document dated 1/2/1935 of her great grandfather with the

entry 'Ahir' has also been relied upon. The Scrutiny Committee has

however chosen to give importance to the statements of two persons that

were recorded by the Vigilance Cell who were stated to be the residents

of the same village who stated that the caste of the petitioner was 'Kachi

Ahir'.


5]              We have heard the learned Counsel for the parties and we

have perused the documents on record. It is not in dispute that the

validity certificates were issued to the cousin brothers and sisters of the

petitioner namely Shubham, Suraj, Saurabh and Ku. Pooja. While issuing

these validity certificates, the Scrutiny Committee was satisfied that the

claim as made was correct and it was satisfied with the said documents.

Once the blood relatives of the petitioner were issued such validity

certificates, they ought to have been granted due importance and

weightage rather than the statements made by two persons who the

petitioner says the family were not aware of. Such stand has been taken

while submitting reply to the report of the Vigilance Cell. Except this

reason assigned by the Scrutiny Committee, there is no other reason for

invalidating the petitioner's claim of belonging to 'Ahir' - Other Backward

Class.


6]              Insofar as the aspect of affinity is concerned, the same



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cannot be treated to be a litmus test as held by the Larger Bench of this

Court in Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti Vs. State

of Maharashtra and others [2023(2) Mh.L.J. 785] . In addition, the

document of the year 1935 has also been duly verified by the Vigilance

Cell. In these facts, the view taken by the Scrutiny Committee is

unsustainable.


7]              For the aforesaid reasons, the following order is passed :


                                    ORDER

The order dated 23/5/2023 passed by the Scrutiny

Committee is set aside. It is declared that the petitioner belongs to 'Ahir' -

Other Backward Class. The Scrutiny Committee shall within a period of

three weeks issue validity certificate to the petitioner. Till the validity

certificate is issued, the petitioner is free to rely upon the copy of this

judgment to indicate that her claim of belonging to 'Ahir' - Other

Backward Class has been upheld.

8] Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. No costs.

(MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, J.) (A.S. CHANDURKAR, J.)

Sumit