Bombay High Court
Ahilyabai Prakashrao Mandalwad vs The State Of Maharashtra And ... on 23 August, 2023
Bench: Mangesh S. Patil, Shailesh P. Brahme
2023:BHC-AUG:18260-DB
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
WRIT PETITION NO. 13141 OF 2021
Ahiylyabai d/o Prakashrao Mandalwad,
Age : 26 years, Occ : Student,
R/o Mantha, Tq. Hadgaon,
Dist. Nanded. .. Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Maharashtra,
Through it's Secretary,
Tribal Development Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32.
2. The Director of Medical Education,
Saint John Hospital Campus,
Mumbai - 32.
3. Maharashtra University of
Health Science,
Through its Registrar,
Dindori Road Mharsul,
Nasik, Dist. Nasik.
4. Deputy Director (Research)
and Member Secretary,
Scheduled Tribe Certificate
Scrutiny Committee,
Near Saint Lawrence High
School, Town Centre, CIDCO,
Aurangabad, Dist. Aurangabad.
5. Government Ayurved College,
Vazirabad, Nanded,
Tq. and dist. Nanded,
Through its Dean. .. Respondents
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Shri Chandrakant R. Thorat, Advocate for the Petitioner.
Shri S. B. Yawalkar, Addl.G.P. for the Respondent Nos. 1, 2, 4
and 5.
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 13414 OF 2021
1. Anant S/o Prakashrao Mandalwad,
Age : 24 years, Occ : Student,
R/o Mantha, Tq. Hadgaon,
Dist. Nanded.
2. Jyoti d/o Prakashrao mandalwad,
Age : 29 years, Occ : Student,
R/o Mantha, Tq. Hadgaon,
Dist. Nanded. .. Petitioners
Versus
1. The State of Maharashtra,
Through it's Secretary,
Tribal Development Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32.
2. Deputy Director (Research)
and Member Secretary,
Scheduled Tribe Certificate
Scrutiny Committee,
Near Saint Lawrence High
School, Town Centre, CIDCO,
Aurangabad, Dist. Aurangabad. .. Respondents
Shri Chandrakant R. Thorat, Advocate for the Petitioners.
Shri S. B. Yawalkar, Addl.G.P. for the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2.
CORAM : MANGESH S. PATIL AND
SHAILESH P. BRAHME, JJ.
DATE : 23 AUGUST 2023.
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FINAL ORDER (Per Shailesh P. Brahme, J.) :-
. Heard both sides for final disposal at admission stage
considering the urgency expressed by the petitioners.
2. By common judgment and order dated 08.11.2021 the tribe
claims of the petitioners as belonging to 'Mannervarlu'
(Scheduled Tribe) are invalidated by the respondent/Scrutiny
Committee.
3. The petitioners are from the same family and they are
relying upon the common record. Therefore, both the petitions
can be disposed of by this common order.
4. The petitioners are relying upon the validity certificates
issued to Pravin Maroti Mandalwad and Jagdish Shivanna
Mandalwad. According to them there is cogent material placed
on record to support their claims. On the self same record the
validity certificates were issued on earlier occasion and,
therefore, the Scrutiny Committee has committed error of
jurisdiction in rejecting the tribe claims.
5. The learned Additional Government Pleader supports the
impugned judgment and order. He would submit that there is
contrary record and the validity certificates are not reliable. The
genealogy produced before the Committee by the petitioners is
suspicious. To support the submissions, the learned Addl. G. P.
has placed on record original papers of the petitioner in Writ
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Petition No. 13141 of 2021 and Jagdish Shivanna Mandalwad, a
validity holder.
6. We have considered the submissions and perused the
papers produced before us. It reveals that the relationship of the
petitioners with the validity holders is not disputed. There was
vigilance enquiry in the case of validity holders Pravin Maroti
and Jagdish Shivanna. By reasoned orders the validity
certificates were issued to them. The documentary evidence was
considered by the Scrutiny Committee in their matters. We find
that the validity certificates are reliable because they were
issued after following due procedure of law.
7. It is not permissible for the present scrutiny committee to
arrive at a contrary findings on the self same record. Unless and
until the validity certificates are revoked, it is not permissible to
deny the validities to the petitioners. In that view of the matter,
the scrutiny committee has committed serious error of
jurisdiction.
8. The learned Addl. G. P. has informed that the Committee
has proposed to reopen the matters of the validity holders.
Strenuously the learned Addl. G. P. would point out
inconsistency in the genealogy. We refrain ourselves from
offering any comment for the submissions of the learned Addl. G.
P. at this juncture. It is open for the Scrutiny Committee to
enquire into all relevant aspects of the matter. We find that the
petitioners are entitled to conditional validities.
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9. For the reasons recorded above, we pass following order.
ORDER
A) The writ petitions are partly allowed.
B) The impugned common judgment and order is quashed and
set aside.
C) The respondent-Scrutiny Committee shall immediately
issue tribe validity certificate to the petitioners as belonging to
'Mannervarlu' scheduled tribe in the prescribed format without
adding anything.
D) The validity shall be subject to the final outcome of the
matters which the committee has decided to re-open.
E) The petitioners shall not be entitled to claim equities.
[ SHAILESH P. BRAHME, J.] [ MANGESH S. PATIL, J.]
bsb/Aug. 23
