Bombay High Court
Ku. Bhumika Ramchandra Sisodiya, Thr. ... vs State Of Maha., Thr. Prin. Secretary, ... on 15 December, 2023
Author: Nitin W. Sambre
Bench: Nitin W. Sambre
2023:BHC-NAG:17514-DB
28-J-WP.-5857-23. 1/5
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.5857 OF 2022
Ku. Bhumika Ramchandra Sisodia
Aged about 17 years, Occ. Student,
Through natural guardian (Mother)
Rina Ramchandra Sisodiya,
Aged about 52 years, Occ. Household,
R/o Ward No.16, near Jama Masjd,
Mochipura, Dhamangaon (Railway),
Tq. Dhamangaon (Railway), Dist. Amravati ... Petitioner
vs.
1. The State of Maharashtra,
Through its Principal Secretary,
Social Justice and Special Assistance Dept.
Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32
2. The District Caste Certificate
Scrutiny Committee, Amravati,
Through its Chairman, B-wing,
1st Floor, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
Samajik Nyaya Bhavan, Camp Road,
Amravati ... Respondents
Shri N. Z. Mirza, Advocate for the petitioner.
Shri S. M. Ghodeswar, Assistant Government Pleader for respondents.
CORAM : NITIN W. SAMBRE AND ABHAY J. MANTRI,
Date : December 15, 2023
Judgment : (Per : Nitin W. Sambre, J.)
Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard the learned
counsel for the parties.
The challenge in the present writ petition is to the order dated
05/07/2023 passed by the respondent No.2-Scrutiny Committee whereby
the caste-claim of the petitioner belonging to 'Mochi' Scheduled Caste
came to be rejected thereby cancelling her caste certificate dated
23/08/2022.
2. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the
petitioner is a Class-XII student. On 24/09/2022 a proposal was
forwarded to the respondent No.2-Scrutiny Committee for verification of
her caste-claim. In support of her claim of belonging to 'Mochi'
Scheduled Caste the petitioner sought to rely upon various old documents
that is of 1972 in relation to her father's school admission, 1945 in
relation to her grandfather and the document in relation to her great-
grandfather of the year 1934 in which the caste is recorded as 'Mochi'.
According to the learned counsel these pre-constitutional entries without
there being any reason are discarded by the Scrutiny Committee by relying
upon the Vigilance Cell report. According to him even to the Vigilance
Cell report, the petitioner has submitted her reply and has pointed out
that but for mere statements in the Vigilance Cell report, there is no iota
of evidence to counter the aforesaid old entries and that being so, the
impugned order is not sustainable.
3. The learned Assistant Government Pleader would urge that the
order impugned is based on the information provided by the Vigilance Cell
report. Further he would try to substantiate the impugned order based on
the opinion recorded by the Vigilance Officer. The Vigilance Officer had
visited the original place of the petitioner and on enquiry, the people
residing there stated that the petitioner belongs to 'Mochi' Scheduled
Caste and professes Hindu religion. As such, the learned Assistant
Government Pleader fairly submitted that except the aforesaid, there is no
other material on record to substantiate the impugned order.
4. We have appreciated the aforesaid submissions.
Perusal of the impugned order so also the record of the
Scrutiny Committee reveals that in support of the claim put forth in the
form of pre-constitutional documents entry dated 08/12/1934 pertaining
to the great-grandfather of the petitioner, entry dated 17/07/1945 in
respect of the grandfather of the petitioner who was admitted in a primary
school and the entry of 1972 of the petitioner's father in respect of his
school admission, consistently depict that the caste of the petitioner's
forefathers is 'Mochi' Scheduled Caste. When the aforesaid record is not
controverted by the Vigilance Cell thereby bringing on record some other
entries in relation to these three persons and having referring to the fact
that all these three pre-independence era entries exist, the same have
more evidentiary value. In this backdrop the Committee ought to have
considered and allowed the claim of the petitioner for grant of validity of
belonging to 'Mochi' Scheduled caste. Rather, the Committee has relied
on the opinion of the Vigilance Officer in his report that the people
residing at the original place of the petitioner have stated that the
petitioner belongs to 'Marwadi Mochi' and practices Hindu religion.
5. The Vigilance Officer neither recorded statement of any of the
villagers or neighbour to substantiate his opinion or procured any
documents so as to infer that the petitioner's claim is not genuine. That
being so, the reliance placed on the Vigilance Report by the Scrutiny
Committee for rejecting the caste-claim of the petitioner cannot be said to
be justified.
6. Once the petitioner has discharged her burden casted under
Section 8 of the Maharashtra Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, D-
notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes
and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification
of ) Caste Certificate Act, 2000, it was for the respondent-Scrutiny
Committee to deal with the same. In this backdrop, we are of the view
that the impugned order is not sustainable.
7. Accordingly we pass the following order :
(a) The order dated 05/07/2023 passed by respondent No.2-Scrutiny
Committee, Amravati is set aside.
(b) It is declared that the petitioner has proved that she belongs to
'Mochi' Scheduled Caste.
(c) The Scrutiny Committee shall within a period of four weeks of
receiving the copy of this judgment issue validity certificate to the
petitioner.
(d) Till the Scrutiny Committee issues the validity certificate, the
petitioner can rely upon this judgment to indicate that her claim of
belonging to 'Mochi' Scheduled Caste has been accepted.
(e) Rule is made absolute in aforesaid terms. No order as to costs.
(Abhay J. Mantri, J. ) (Nitin W. Sambre,J.)
Asmita
Signed by: Smt. Asmita A. Bhandakkar
Designation: PS To Honourable Judge
Date: 21/12/2023 18:18:19
