Surendra Namdeorao Kalse vs The Scheduled Tribe Caste ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 7221 Bom

2023:BHC-NAG:12322-DB


              967-J-WP-486-23                                                                   1/4


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

                                          WRIT PETITION NO.486 OF 2023


              Surendra Namdeorao Kalse,
              aged 58 years, occ. Retired
              from service as Junior college Lecturer,
              r/o Rajura, District Chandrapur                                ... Petitioner

              -vs-

              1. The Scheduled Tribe Caste
                 Certificate Scrutiny Committee,
                 Chandrapur, Through its Member/Secretary,

              2. The Principal,
                 Shivaji Arts, Commerce and Science
                 College, Rajura, District Chandrapur                        ... Respondents


              Shri R. S. Parsodkar, Advocate for petitioner.
              Smt S. S. Jachak, Assistant Government Pleader for respondent No.1.
              Ms Kirti Satpute, Advocate for respondent No.2.

                                 CORAM : A. S. CHANDURKAR AND MRS VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, JJ.

DATE : JULY 19, 2023

Oral Judgment : (Per : A. S. Chandurkar, J.)

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard the learned

counsel for the parties.

The petitioner has challenged the order passed by the Scrutiny

Committee on 22/11/2022 thereby invalidating the claim of the

petitioner belonging to 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe. In support of such

claim the petitioner relied upon various pre-constitutional documents

having entry 'Thakur'. The Vigilance Cell in its enquiry noted that the

967-J-WP-486-23 2/4

documents of 1932-1933 and 1941 of the petitioner's grandfather had

the entries 'Thakur'. It also found that the documents of 1974 and

1976 have the entry 'Bhat'. The said report was submitted to the

Scrutiny Committee. The petitioner has also relied upon validity

certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee at Nashik to his cousin

brother. According to the Scrutiny Committee, the said validity

certificate could not be relied upon since it was issued on 30/09/1998

without following the due process of law. On that count the claim of

the petitioner came to be invalidated.

2. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and we have

perused the record of the proceedings. It can be seen from the record

that the petitioner has relied upon the documents of his grandfather

Laxman of the years 1932, 1933 as well as 1941. The name of his

grandfather has been shown as Laxman son of Fakira Thakur. These

documents have been verified by the Vigilance Cell. There are other

pre-constitutional documents having similar entries and hence these

old entries carry great probative value. The Vigilance Cell in its report

has specifically stated that the old record was examined and such

entries existed there. The other entries relied upon by the Scrutiny

Committee are of the year 1974 and 1976. Those documents would

not have much weightage when compared to the documents of 1932,

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1933 and 1941. It can thus be said that on the basis of pre-

constitutional documents having the entry 'Thakur', the claim made by

the petitioner on the basis of documentary material stands

substantiated. Insofar as the grant of validity certificate to the

petitioner's cousin is concerned, the same has been issued on

30/09/1998 and continues to operate even today. This Court in Writ

Petition No.2685/2022 (Ku. Shravani d/o Ganesh Wankhede vs. State

of Maharashtra, Thr. its Secretary, Dept. of Social Justice and

Empowerment, Mantralaya, Mumbai and ors.) has held that merely

because a validity certificate is issued by another jurisdictional Scrutiny

Committee, the same need not be discarded for that reason. In

absence of any allegation of fraud being practised, the validity

certificate would have to be given its due weightage. As regards the

aspect of affinity test, the said issue has now been decided by the

Larger Bench of the Honourable Supreme Court in case of Maharashtra

Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti vs State of Maharashtra and

others. 2023(2) Mh.L.J. 785. It has been held that the affinity test

cannot be treated as a litmus test and same cannot be the only basis for

rejecting such claim.

3. On perusing the report of Vigilance Cell and considering the

overall material on record, it will have to be held that the petitioner

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has proved that he belongs to 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe. Absence of

following old traits and practises with passage of time cannot be given

undue importance.

4. For aforesaid reasons the order passed by the Scrutiny

Committee is liable to be set aside. Accordingly the following order is

passed :

(i) The order passed by the Scrutiny Committee on 22/11/2022 is

set aside. It is declared that the petitioner belong to 'Thakur'

Scheduled Tribe.

(ii) Within a period of four weeks from receipt of copy of this

judgment, the Scrutiny Committee shall issue validity certificate

to the petitioner.

(iii) The petitioner is entitled to receive all retirement benefits that

have been withheld for want of validity certificate. The

respondent No.2 to take necessary steps in that regard.

(iv) Rule is made absolute in aforesaid terms with no order as to

costs.

(Mrs Vrushali V. Joshi, J.) (A. S. Chandurkar, J.)

Asmita