Akash S/O Sudhakar Pawar vs Vice Chairman/ Jt. Commissioner, ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 9635 Bom

2023:BHC-NAG:13662-DB
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                     IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                               NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.

                              WRIT PETITION NO. 4524              OF 2023

                         Akash Sudhakar Pawar, Age 24 years,
                         Occup.Student R/o At Post Chandur, Tq.
                         and Dist.Akola.                                  Petitioner
                                        -Versus-

                     Vice Chairman Jt. Commissioner,
                     Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny
                     Committee,Amravati Division Old by pass
                     Road, Chaprashipura Amravati.                             Respondent
               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Mr. A.P.Kalmegh, counsel for the petitioner.
                          Mr. S.A.Ashirgarde,Addl.G.P.for the respondent.
               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           CORAM : A.S.CHANDURKAR AND
                                                         VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, JJ.

DATE : 13th September, 2023 ORAL JUDGMENT (Per : A. S. Chandurkar, J.)

1. Rule. Since the petitioner seeks to pursue further

education, the Rule is made returnable forthwith and learned

counsel appearing for the parties have been heard finally.

2. The challenge raised by the petitioner is to the order

passed by the Scrutiny Committee on 27.06.2023 invalidating his

claim of belonging to 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe. Inter alia, the

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petitioner has relied upon the documents dated 05.03.1919,

23.04.1930 and 16.11.1923 with the entry 'Thakur' to contend

that his claim was liable to be upheld. These documents have been

verified by the Vigilance Cell and the entries in question have

been noticed. During the course of Vigilance enquiry, the

documents of the year 1950 and 1951 with the entry 'Marathe'

were found. In the reply to the report of the Vigilance Cell , the

petitioner has denied his relationship with the said persons. The

Scrutiny Committee, has principally rejected the claim of the

petitioner on the ground that there is absence of affinity with

'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe.

3. On hearing the learned counsel for the parties and after

perusing the record maintained by the Scrutiny Committee, we

find the pre-independence documents of the year 1919, 1923,

and 1930 of the predecessors of the petitioners have the entry

'Thakur'. These documents carry great probative value and are

required to be given necessary weightage in this regard.

4. The reply filed by the petitioner to the report of the

Vigilance Cell in clear terms denies the relationship with the

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persons stated therein. Perusal of the family tree also indicates that

'Govinda' is not a member of the family. The Scrutiny Committee

however, has not considered the reply to the report of the

Vigilance Cell in the proper perspective. From the old documents,

it is clear that the claim of the petitioner of belonging to 'Thakur'

Community is substantiated.

5. As regards the aspect of affinity test held in the recent

decision of the Hon'ble Supre me Court in the case of Priya

Pramod Gajbe Vrs. The State of Maharashtra and ors. reported in

2023 SCC Online SC 909 that the same is not a litmus test and

the overall material on record has to be taken into consideration.

This is after considering the judgment of the Larger Bench in the

case of Mah. Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti Vs. State of

Maharashtra and ors. reported in 2023(2)Mh.L.J 785. We,

therefore, find that from an overall consideration of the material

on record the claim of the petitioner on the basis of pre-

constitutional documents stands substantiated.

6. For the aforesaid reasons, the order passed by the

Scrutiny Committee, on 27.06.2023 is set aside. It is declared that

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the petitioner has proved that he belongs to 'Thakur' Scheduled

Tribe. Within a period of three weeks of receiving copy of the

judgment the Scrutiny Committee shall issue validity certificate to

the petitioner. Till the validity certificate is received, the petitioner

can rely upon the copy of the judgment to indicate that his claim

of belonging to 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe has been validated.

7. Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. No costs.

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




Signed by: Kavita P Tayade
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 13/09/2023 18:01:55     Kavita.