Bombay High Court
Vinayak Babarav Jumale vs The S. T. Caste Certificate Scrutiny ... on 10 November, 2025
Author: M.S. Jawalkar
Bench: M.S. Jawalkar
2025:BHC-NAG:11769-DB
Judgment 1 942wp1409.25.odt
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION NO. 1409/2025
Vinayak Babarav Jumale,
Aged 48 years, Occ.
Agriculturist, R/o. Lakhonda
(BK), Tah. & District Akola
.....PETITIONER(S)
// VERSUS //
(1) The Scheduled Tribe Caste
Certificate Scrutiny Committee,
Through its Member/Secretary,
Bhatkuli Road, Amravati,
District Amravati
(2) The Sub-Divisional Officer,
Akola, Tq. & District Akola
.....RESPONDENT(S)
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Ms. R. Kabra, Advocate for the Petitioner(s)
Shri A.M. Kadukar, AGP for the Respondent/State
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CORAM : M.S. JAWALKAR & RAJ D. WAKODE, JJ.
CLOSED FOR JUDGMENT ON :- OCTOBER 07, 2025
JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED ON :- NOVEMBER 10, 2025
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Judgment 2 942wp1409.25.odt
JUDGMENT :
- (PER:- M.S. JAWALKAR, J.)
. By consent of the parties and at their request, the
matter is taken up for final disposal at the stage of admission.
(2) By this Writ Petition, the Petitioner challenges the
order dated 04.04.2024 passed by the Respondent No.1 -
Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Amravati
(for short, "the Scrutiny Committee"), invalidating the
Petitioner's claim of belonging to "Koli Mahadeo" Scheduled
Tribe, which appears at Sr. No. 29 in the Constitution
(Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. The Petitioner also assails the
order dated 06.02.2024 passed by Respondent No.2 - Sub-
Divisional Officer, Akola, rejecting his claim for issuance of the
tribe certificate.
(3) Learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that
several documents were produced before the Sub-Divisional
Officer, Akola, in support of the Petitioner's tribe claim, but the
same came to be rejected by order dated 06.02.2024. The Appeal
before the Scrutiny Committee was also dismissed, thereby
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confirming the rejection. He further submits that this Court has
recently dealt with identical issues in Writ Petition Nos.
8327/2022, 11671/2021 (Aurangabad Bench), and 416/2023,
decided on 12.01.2023, 07.07.2023, and 06.09.2024 respectively,
wherein the orders passed by the Scrutiny Committee and the
Sub-Divisional Officer were set aside and the Authorities were
directed to issue caste/tribe certificates to the Petitioners therein.
(4) It is further submitted that the Act No. 23 of 2001
and the Rules of 2003 nowhere prescribe the production of
documents prior to 1950 for obtaining a caste certificate. In
absence of such a statutory requirement, the Respondents could
not have insisted upon it on their own accord. When the statute
is clear, no additional condition can be read into it. The
insistence on pre-1950 documents is arbitrary and without legal
basis, as such documents are relevant only at the stage of
verification and not at the stage of issuance of the caste
certificate. Therefore, the impugned orders are perverse and
deserve to be quashed and set aside. Learned Counsel for the
Petitioner submitted that the Petitioner has also placed on
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record the School Leaving Certificate dated 12.05.1989 which
clearly shows his tribe as 'Mahadeo Koli'.
(5) Per contra, learned AGP contended that the
Petitioner failed to produce proof of tribe status prior to 10
August 1950, as required under Section 4(2)(b) and (c) of the
Maharashtra Act, 2003. It was further submitted that "Koli
Mahadev" is a distinct tribe unconnected with the "Koli" caste as
clarified by Government Resolution dated 24.04.1985, and hence
the Petitioner's claim was rightly rejected.
(6) Heard both sides at length, perused the material
placed on record and considered the citations relied on by the
Petitioner.
(7) Learned Counsel for the Petitioner placed reliance on
the decision of this Court in Writ Petition No. 2011/2024, where
an identical issue was considered. Relevant observations from
paragraphs 6 to 8 of that judgment in Sushil s/o Rajendra Thakur
and others v. Sub-Divisional Officer, Daryapur, Dist. Amravati
and another, decided on 10.03.2025 are reproduced below:
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"(6) It is settled position of law that the competent
authority under Section 4 of the Maharashtra
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified
Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other
Backward Classes and Special Backward Category
(Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste
Certificate Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as 'Act
of 2000') while issuing caste certificate is not entitled
to make a detailed enquiry as to the validity of the
claim of the petitioners of belonging to particular
Caste/Tribe; for that is the job of the Committee
constituted under Section 6 of the said Act.
(7) A perusal of the impugned orders dated
15/05/2024 (Annexures 4 to 8) passed by the Sub-
Divisional Officer, who is the competent authority in
terms of Section 4 of the Act of 2000, would indicate
that he has gone into the question of validity of the
claim of the petitioners, which is impermissible in
law. Thus, it seems that the Sub-Divisional Officer
exceeded its jurisdiction while refusing to grant caste
certificates to the petitioners. Similar is the position
in respect of the order dated 28/08/2024 passed by
the respondent No.2 the Committee. The respondent
No.2 Committee has not considered the documents
produced on record by the petitioners in their proper
perspective.
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(8) Apart from this, the position in this matter is no
longer res-integra, but it is covered by the judgment
of this Court in Namdeo s/o. Baburao Ingale and ors.
vs. Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, Amravati [2015(2)Mh.L.J.707],
Dhanashree Ravindra Koli and others V/s The state
of Mah. & ors. In W.P.No.8829/20021 decided on
12/08/21 and followed subsequently in Vishal
Namdeo Gopewad vs. The Scheduled Tribe Caste
Certificate Scrutiny Committee, through its
Member / Secretary, Yavatmal and another [W.P.
No.4335/2023 decided on 01/09/2023], in view of
which, the impugned orders dated 15/05/2024 passed
by respondent No.1 Sub-Divisional Officer, as well as
the decision dated 28/08/2024 passed by the
respondent No.2 Committee, are hereby quashed and
set aside."
(8) In purview of the settled legal position and applying
the ratio of the above decisions, we find that the Sub-Divisional
Officer exceeded his jurisdiction in refusing to issue caste
certificates and the Scrutiny Committee erred in confirming
such refusal without due consideration of the documents.
However, as there are no documents prior to the pre-
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independence period, we are of the opinion that this claim of the
Petitioner requires to be reconsidered.
(9) Hence, we process to pass the following order:-
ORDER
(a) The Writ Petition is partly allowed.
(b) The order dated 04.04.2024 passed by the Respondent
No.1 - Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, Amravati and the order dated 06.02.2024
passed by Respondent No.2 - Sub-Divisional Officer,
Akola, are hereby quashed and set aside.
(c) The Respondent No.2 - Sub-Divisional Officer, Akola,
is hereby directed to re-examine and decide the
Petitioner's claim in accordance with law, after
affording due opportunity of hearing to the Petitioner.
(d) If the Respondent No. 2 issues the tribe certificate to
the Petitioner, the Respondent No. 1 shall verify the
same on its on merits.
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The Petition stands disposed of in the above terms.
Pending Application(s), if any, stand(s) disposed of.
(RAJ D. WAKODE, J.) (M.S. JAWALKAR, J.)
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