Ravindra S/O Bhaurao Dodke Minor Thr. ... vs State Of Maha., Thr. Its Secretary, ...
2026 Latest Caselaw 1022 Bom

Bombay High Court

Ravindra S/O Bhaurao Dodke Minor Thr. ... vs State Of Maha., Thr. Its Secretary, ... on 29 January, 2026

Author: M.S. Jawalkar

Bench: M.S. Jawalkar

2026:BHC-NAG:1426-DB


                       WP No.3819.23.odt                                                                   1/12


                                 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

                                                   NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR

                                               WRIT PETITION NO. 3819/2023

                       1.      Ravindra S/o Bhaurao Dodke,
                               Aged about 17 years, Occ. Student,
                               being minor, through his natural
                               guardian father Shri. Bhaurao S/o
                               Anandrao Dodke, age 44 years Occ:
                               Agriculture, R/o. At. Alesur, Post. Nand,
                               Tah. Bhiwapur, Dist. Nagpur- 441201.

                                                                                      ... PETITIONER

                                                 ...VERSUS...

                       1.      State of Maharashtra, through its
                               Secretary, Tribal Development
                               Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai-32.

                       2.       Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny
                               Committee, Nagpur, through its Member-
                               Secretary, O/o.Adiwasi Vikas Bhawan,
                               Amravati Road, Giripeth, Nagpur -440010.

                                                                                           ...RESPONDENTS
                       ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Mr. S. D. Borkute, Advocate for petitioner
                       Mr. A. S. Fulzele, AGP for respondents/State
                       ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               CORAM :           SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR AND
                                                 NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.

                               RESERVED ON   : 20th JANUARY, 2026.
                               PRONOUNCED ON : 29th JANUARY, 2026.
 WP No.3819.23.odt                                             2/12


JUDGMENT (PER : NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.)

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with the

consent of the parties.

2. The petitioner by this petition is challenging the order passed

by respondent Scrutiny Committee bearing Case No.

6/505/Edu/022022/242798 (Case ID: 6/505/Edu/022022/

242798), dated 13/03/2023 invalidating tribe claim of petitioner

belonging to Mana Scheduled Tribe.

3. It is contended by the petitioner that he is a student belonging

to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe enlisted at Sr. No. 18 in the Constitution

(Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. The Sub-Divisional Officer, Umred,

District Nagpur issued tribe certificate in his favour on 01/02/2022

certifying him as belonging to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe. The

petitioner submitted his tribe claim to respondent No.1 Committee

for verification. On 13/03/2023, the respondent No.1 Committee

passed an order invalidating the tribe claim of the petitioner.

4. The petitioner submits that he has relied upon the following

pre-Constitutional documents in support of his tribal claim:-

Relation Name on Caste/ Sr. No. Document Type with Date Document Tribe Petitioner Extract of 1912-13 revenue record Pandu S/o

1. Forefather Mana (issued P-1 (Bandobast Katu Mana 23/01/2023) Misal) Extract of revenue record

2. Katu Mana Forefather Mana 1912-17 P-6 (Jamabandi) Dama 03/10/1930 Extract of birth Mana Great- (issued by

3. register (Kotwar (having Mana Grandfather Collectorate, Panji) male child Nagpur) Shrawan)

5. The petitioner submits that there are two validity certificates

already issued in favor of his blood relatives (aunt and cousin),

which clearly establish their tribal status. The family tree submitted

by the petitioner clearly depicts the blood relationship of validity

holders with the petitioner.

Sr. No. Name Relation Validity Certificate Date

1. Shamkala Dodke Aunt 23/01/2012

2. Dilip Haridas Dodke Cousin 10/01/2008

6. The petitioner specifically contends that the pre-constitutional

Bandobast Misal P-1 dated 1912-13 is a crucial document that

clearly records the caste as 'Mana' and the name Pandu S/o Katu

Mana is specifically mentioned in their family tree. The Committee

illegally discarded this document merely stating 'relation not

established' despite the clear genealogical link. Being a pre-

constitutional document, it deserves high probative value.

7. The petitioner submits that validity certificates of his blood

relatives are binding upon the Scrutiny Committee as they

constitute conclusive proof of social status. The Committee cannot

discard them unless cancelled by legal procedure. Reliance is placed

on Apoorva Nichade v. D.C.C.S. Committee, 2010 (6) Mh.L.J. 401.

8. The petitioner further relies on Gajanan Shende v. Head

Master (Writ Petition No. 3308/2013), Mana Adim Jamat Mandal

v. State of Maharashtra, 2003 (3) Mh.L.J. 513 wherein this Court

held that validity certificates issued to blood relatives ought to be

accepted as conclusive proof of status and cannot be rejected

without there being cogent reasons.

9. The petitioner contends that the Committee illegally procured

and relied upon documents not submitted by him showing entries of

"Mani" caste. Reliance is placed on Anand v. Committee for Scrutiny

and Verification of Tribe Claims, (2012) 1 SCC 113.

10. The petitioner submits that the Committee erroneously

recorded negative findings on affinity test. Reliance is placed on

Maharashtra Adivasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti v. State of

Maharashtra (Civil Appeal No. 2502/2022) and Shubham

Gadamade v. Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee,

2017(3) Mh.L.J.

11. For the sake of brevity family tree is reproduced below.

12. Per contra, learned A.G.P for the respondent contends that the

petitioner's claim to belong to 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe was duly

verified as per Rule 12(2) through a detailed inquiry conducted by

the Police Vigilance Cell. The case was received by the Committee

on 11/03/2022 and handed over to the Vigilance Cell on

06/04/2022. Show cause notice along with the Vigilance Cell report

dated 19/08/2022 was issued, and the petitioner was granted

personal hearing and was fully heard at length.

13. It is submitted that the Vigilance Cell found adverse entries in

old records of the petitioner's blood relatives recording caste as

"Mani", which is inconsistent with Mana Scheduled Tribe. The

inquiry revealed that the original birth record of Shravan to Dama

Mana (1930) is not available and could not be verified, as the

Record Keeper stated it was destroyed. The earliest authentic

evidence i.e., school document of petitioner's great grandfather

Anand Dama Alesur shows caste entry in 1954 as "Mani" which was

suppressed by petitioner's family. Material inconsistencies were

noted regarding tribal traits, customs, and socio-cultural affinity.

14. The adverse entries as relied and procured by the Committee

are tabled below:

Name on Relation with Sr. Tribe/ Date / Document Type the the No. Description Period Document Petitioner

School document, Zilla Parishad 01/04/1954 Anandrao Upper Primary (birth

1. Dama Grandfather Mani School, Alesur, 24/05/1945 Alesur Tq. Bhiwapur, ) Dist. Nagpur School document, Zilla Parishad 01/07/1964 Sitabai Upper Primary (birth

2. Shravan Cousin aunt Mana School, Alesur, 01/05/1957 Dodke Tq. Bhiwapur, ) Dist. Nagpur School document, Zilla Parishad Haridas Upper Primary

3. Shravan Cousin uncle Mana 02/07/1968 School, Alesur, Dodke Tq. Bhiwapur, Dist. Nagpur School document, Bhaurao Jilla Parishad Anandrao Upper Primary

4. son of Father Mana 12/07/1986 School, Alesur, Dama Tq. Bhiwapur, Dodke Dist. Nagpur

15. The respondents further submit that the petitioner relies upon

post-independence entries showing 'Mana' and validity certificates

of relatives (Shamkala A. Dodke and Dilip Haridas Dodke), but

these are outweighed by the adverse pre-constitutional entry of

"Mani" in 1954. The petitioner submitted P-1 Bandobast Misal

(Pandu Vald Katu Mana, 1912-13), but blood relationship is not

proved and the name is not in the genealogy. The validity

certificates were issued cryptically without proper vigilance inquiry

or detailed reasoning. Dilip and Shyamkala obtained validity

certificates by concealing the 1954 "Mani" caste record and have

been served notice dated 27/12/2022. Such validity certificates are

not binding or extendable.

16. The respondent further submits that the petitioner's family

residence is in Nagpur district which does not have Mana Scheduled

Tribe population. The oldest authentic record shows "Mani" (1954),

not Mana Scheduled Tribe. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Kunda

Vishwanath Ghodmare Vs. Caste Scrutiny Committee, CA No.

4149/2001 held that there is Mana community apart from Mana

Scheduled Tribe. Similar observations were upheld in SLP (C) No.

9893/2010 (Sandeep Deoran Jivtode) and State of Maharashtra Vs.

Keshao Vishwanath Sonune (2020 SCC online SC 1040).

17. Lastly, it is submitted that the petitioner was granted ample

opportunities but failed to submit genuine documentary evidence.

Accordingly, the respondent submits that the order passed by

Respondent No.2 Scrutiny Committee dated 13/03/2023 is lawful,

proper, reasoned, and based on the material available on record.

18. We have appreciated the controversy involved in the present

writ petition with the assistance of the learned counsels appearing

for the parties, and also seen the record. The family tree as is

depicted filed by the petitioner and also in the impugned order

clearly mentions the name of "Shrawan". The document with

reference to the said person is a Kotwal Panji which is at page no.

62 of the petition shows the date of birth as 03.10.1930. The

father's name is shown as "Dama Mana" and name of the son is

shown "Saravan". Thus it is worthwhile to note that their is a

phonetic similarity between "Shrawan" and "Saravan" as mentioned

and which fact can be clearly confirmed from the said document.

The only reason for discarding the said document is that the

original record is destroyed and therefore the said entry cannot be

verified. Destroying of original record and non-availability thereof

for any other cause cannot be a reason to disregard the claim of the

petitioner more particularly when there was certified copy placed

on record by the petitioner himself which clearly showed that the

person belong to Mana caste. The findings in that regard are

therefore, not sustainable in law.

19. Furthermore, the reasons for disregarding the validity

certificates granted to the near relatives of the petitioner are vague

in nature, and there is no cogent finding which can be said to be

legally sustainable. Merely because the concerned persons have not

filed affidavits in the present proceedings cannot be a reason to

totally disregard the validity certificates issued to them, more

particularly when the same were not disputed.

20. Furthermore, as far as the validity issued to one Dilip Dodke,

who happens to be a near relative, is concerned, the same is

discarded on the ground that there was no vigilance enquiry in the

said proceedings. We have already held that omission to hold a

vigilance enquiry, or otherwise, is within the discretion and powers

of the Scrutiny Committee. Merely because there is no vigilance

enquiry and the validity is issued without vigilance enquiry cannot

lead to an inference that the said validity certificate is to be

discarded, more particularly when there is a statutory power in the

Committee to proceed even without a vigilance enquiry. Thus, no

fault can be found with the said validity certificate.

21. In the impugned order, we could not find any reason, much

less a legally sustainable one, to disregard the validity certificates

already issued to the near relatives of the petitioner. Furthermore,

as stated supra, the phonetic similarity of the oldest entry also

stands to the advantage of the petitioner. The findings of the

Scrutiny Committee, therefore, cannot withstand the scrutiny of

law, and the claim of the petitioner is sustainable. We, therefore,

pass the following order:--

ORDER

i) Writ Petition is allowed.

ii) The order dated 13.03.2023 in Case No.

6/605/Edu/022022/242798 by the respondent no. 2 - The

Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur is

hereby quashed and set aside.

iii) It is hereby declared that the petitioner belongs to "Mana"

Scheduled Tribe.

iv) The respondent no. 2 - The Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate

Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur is hereby directed to issue validity

certificate to the petitioner within four weeks from today.

v) Rule is made absolute in above terms.

(NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) (SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, J.)

Shubham