Bombay High Court
Ku. Dipali Dushant Chaukhe vs The Scheduled Tribe Certificate ... on 11 August, 2023
Bench: A.S. Chandurkar, Vrushali V. Joshi
903-WP-1089-2023(J).odt 1/4
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION NO. 1089 of 2023
Ku. Dipali Dushant Chaukhe (Aged 18 years),
Occupation: Student (Candidate-aspirant for
Admission to Engineering Course)
C/o Dushant Narayanrao Chaukhe,
At Post-Ashish Nagar, Tukdoji Ward,
Hinganghat, District Wardha-442301.
(Mobile No.9322708480,
Email:[email protected] ) ..... PETITIONER
...V E R S U S...
1. The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur
through its Member Secretary,
Giripeth, Nagpur-440 010,
[email protected]
2. The Principal, Government College of Engineering,
Aurangabad-431 005, email:[email protected]
The
respondent 3. The State Common Entrance Test Cell, Maharashtra State,
nos.2 to 4
added as per 8th Floor, New Excelsior Building, A.K.Nayak Marg,
Hon'ble Fort, Mumbai-400 001.(MS)
Court's order email:[email protected]
dated
07.08.2023 4. The Registrar,
C.F.Petitioner Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University,
University Campus, Near Soneri Mahal,
Jaisingpura, Aurangabad-431004 (MS)
email:[email protected] ..RESPONDENTS
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Shri N.D.Jambhule, Advocate for petitioner.
Ms S.S.Jachak, Assistant Government Pleader for respondent no.1 State.
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CORAM :- A.S.CHANDURKAR AND MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, JJ.
DATE :- 11th AUGUST, 2023
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ORAL JUDGMENT (Per A.S.CHANDURKAR, J.)
Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard the learned
counsel for the parties.
2. The challenge raised is to the order passed by the Scrutiny
Committee dated 06.10.2022 invalidating the petitioner's claim of belonging
to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe. In support of such claim the petitioner has relied
upon various pre-Constitution documents especially of the year 1925
pertaining to her forefathers and sought issuance of a validity certificate. The
petitioner also relied upon the validity certificates granted to her father on
07.05.2009, her uncle on 21.04.2009 and her parental aunt-Sushila on
30.01.2020. Despite aforesaid, the Scrutiny Committee has refused to
validate the petitioner's claim.
3. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and we have
perused the record of the Scrutiny Committee that was made available. It is
necessary to note that the petitioner's parental aunt-Sushila was issued
validity certificate after conducting a vigilance enquiry. The report dated
11.04.2019 submitted by the Vigilance Cell makes reference to a document
of 1925 pertaining to the petitioner's great-grandfather-Govinda. It was
noted that the same had entry 'Mana'. Acting on this report, the Scrutiny
Committee on 30.01.2020 passed a detailed order and upheld the claim of
belonging to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe. It is pertinent to note here that one of
903-WP-1089-2023(J).odt 3/4
the members of the Scrutiny Committee Shri Ganesh Ivanate was also the
member of the Scrutiny Committee as its Member Secretary when the
impugned order came to be passed.
4. While perusing the report of the Vigilance Cell insofar as the
petitioner is concerned, it can be seen that the Vigilance Cell has noted the
document of 1925 of Govinda and has found the entry of 'Mana' therein.
Coupled with aforesaid, there is validity certificate issued to the petitioner's
father-Dushant on 07.05.2009. Despite aforesaid material being available,
the Scrutiny Committee has proceeded to invalidate the petitioner's claim. It
has sought to refer to subsequent entries post 1950 to invalidate such claim.
When the document of 1925 was verified by the Vigilance Cell on two
occasions and on the strength of that document the validity certificate was
issued to petitioner's paternal aunt-Sushila, we do not find any justifiable
reason for the Scrutiny Committee to hold otherwise in the case of the
petitioner. In view of the ratio of the decision in Apoorva Vinay Nichale vs.
Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No.1 and others [2010 (6)
Mh.L.J. 401], the petitioner is entitled to rely upon the validity certificate of
her paternal aunt-Sushila. Importance to be given to the affinity test has
been clarified by the Larger Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in
Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti vs. State of
Maharashtra and others [2023(2)Mh.L.J. 785]. The same cannot be treated
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as litmus test. Considering over all material on record, the order passed by
the Scrutiny Committee is not found to be sustainable. Accordingly the
following order is passed:
(i) The order passed by the Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur, on
06.10.2022 is set aside.
(ii) It is declared that the petitioner has proved that she belongs to
'Mana' Scheduled Tribe. Within a period of three weeks of receiving the copy
of the judgment, the Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur shall issue validity
certificate to the petitioner. Till the petitioner receives validity certificate, she
can rely upon copy of this judgment to indicate that her claim of belonging
to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe has been upheld.
Rule is made absolute in aforesaid terms. No costs.
The authenticated copy of this judgment be furnished to the
learned counsel for the parties.
(MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, J.) (A.S.CHANDURKAR, J.)
Andurkar..
