Bombay High Court
Sagar Rajaram Thakur And Others vs The State Of Maharashtra Through Its ... on 20 August, 2024
Author: Mangesh S. Patil
Bench: Mangesh S. Patil
2024:BHC-AUG:18864-DB
1 937.WP-8518-2024.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
WRIT PETITION NO. 8518 OF 2024
1. Sagar s/o Rajaram Thakur
Age 25 years, Occ. Student
2. Govind s/o Rajaram Thakur,
Age 31 years, Occ. Student
3. Varsha d/o Rajaram Thakur,
Age 35 years, Occ. Service
All R/o Village Morenagar,
Kanheri Road, Opp. Darak Hospital,
Latur, Dist. Latur. ...Petitioners
VERSUS
1. The State Of Maharashtra
Through Its Secretary
Tribal Development Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32.
2. The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, Kinwat Division, Aurangabad,
Through its Member Secretary.
3. The Sub Divisional Officer,
Latur. ...Respondents
...
Advocate for Petitioners : Mr. Golegaonkar Madhur A.
AGP for Respondents/State : Mr. V.M. Chate
...
CORAM : MANGESH S. PATIL &
SHAILESH P. BRAHME, JJ.
DATE : 20 AUGUST 2024
PER COURT :
. Heard both the sides finally at the stage of admission.
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2. The petitioners are taking exception to the respondent
no.2/Scrutiny Committee's order, refusing to validate their Thakur
scheduled tribe certificates.
3. The learned advocate for the petitioners would take us through
the genealogy and would submit that there are number of validities
in the family starting from Angad Rambhau Thakur issued on
09.03.2004. Even the petitioners' real sister and their father Rajaram
have been subsequently issued with certificates of validity. Even if the
Committee has now decided to undertake re-verification of the
validities issued to the petitioner's father - Rajaram and their sister -
Harsha, so long as the validity of Angad remains, the petitioners
cannot be deprived of having the benefit and the re-opening of the
matters of their father and sister would be of no consequence.
Learned advocate would further submit that Angad had filed affidavit
in support of the petitioners by giving the genealogy as is
contemplated under Rule 11 of the Rules 2003 framed under the
Maharashtra Act No.XXIII of 2001. The Committee has not doubted
blood relationship between the petitioners and Angad. He would
therefore, submit that irrespective of any other observation and
conclusion of the Committee, since Angad's validity is not sought to
be revoked by undertaking any process, the petitioners may be
granted certificates of validity by setting aside and reversing the
impugned judgment and order.
4. Learned AGP would initially seek time to fetch the original
record of Angad. Independently, he would submit that the Committee
3 937.WP-8518-2024.doc
for the reasons recorded in the impugned order has now formed a
view about the petitioners' father having obtained certificate of
validity by practising fraud and has even issued notice to him. The
petitioners cannot be allowed to take benefit of the fraud practised
by him.
5. We have considered the rival submissions and perused the
record. In the normal course, the request of learned AGP to fetch
original file of validity holder - Angad, seems to be innocuous.
However a careful perusal of the judgment and order under
challenge, would reveal that the Committee itself has not undertaken
any scrutiny and has not even gone through the original file of
Angad. It has also not made any observation touching the
circumstances in which he was granted certificate of validity. Since,
his was the validity first in point of time, the decision of the
Committee questioning the genuineness and sustainability of the
validities of petitioner's father and sister is inconsequential, for, so
long as Angad who is related to the petitioners by blood, possesses
certificate of validity, every blood relative like the petitioners would
be entitled to derive the benefit. It is in the light of these peculiar
circumstances, according to us the original file of Angad need not be
perused.
6. Be that as it may, apart from the validity of Angad which is not
even being commented upon by the Scrutiny Committee, the
Committee has not been able to trace out any contrary record. The
entire record reproduced by the Committee demonstrates the
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petitioners and their blood relatives having been described as Thakur
and in some cases, Hindu. Hindu being a religion and not a caste,
Committee could not have treated this entry as contrary to the claim
of Thakur.
7. Though the Committee has also referred to couple of entries
describing petitioner's father as Sonar, those are of latter period i.e.
1970 which cannot outweigh the earlier favourable record.
8. The Committee's conduct in refusing to treat Thakur entries as
describing Thakur scheduled tribe, by applying area restriction is
contrary to the principles laid down in the matter of Palaghat Jila
Thandan Samuday Sanrakshan Samiti and Anr. Vs. State of Kerala
and Anr.; (1994) 1 SCC 359 and in the light of Amendment Act of
1976.
9. The upshot, petitioners' blood relative - Angad possesses
certificate of validity. They are entitled to derive its benefit, when
there is nothing to demonstrate that he was issued with certificate of
validity without following due process of law.
10. The writ petition is allowed. The impugned order dated
14.05.2024 is quashed and set aside. The Committee shall issue
certificates of validity of Thakur scheduled tribe to the petitioners
immediately.
[ SHAILESH P. BRAHME, J.] [ MANGESH S. PATIL, J.]
Najeeb..
