BIRENDRA KUMAR DEVANGAN Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Petitioner challenges the legality and validity of the impugned order dated 28.7.2006 (Annexure P/1), issued by the Deputy Collector, for Collector, Dhamtari, addressed to the Officer on Special Duty, General Administration and Public Grievances Redressal Department of Chhattisgarh. The indisputable facts in nutshell are that the Petitioner made a complaint to the Chief Minister vide letter dated 20.1.2006 (Annexure P/2) that the Respondents No. 4 to 20 do not belong to Mahar community, as such they do not come under the category of Scheduled Tribe (S.T.). Their family is known as 'bya mahar' which is not a notified S.T. community. The General Administration Department vide letters dated 3.3.2006 and 3.5.2006 directed the Collector to enquire into the facts and submit a report. The Deputy Collector for Collector vide impugned letter dated 28.7.2006 submitted the report, accordingly, stating that the Respondents No. 4 to 20 belong to Mahar community as the caste certificates were issued by the competent officer.

(2.) SHRI R.S. Patel, learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioner submits that the report of the Collector is contrary to the provisions of law as the W.P.(C) No. 2344 of 2007, Decided on 26.4.2007 Collector/Deputy Collector is not competent to scrutinize the caste of a particular community as to whether the same is S.C. S.T. O.B.C or not. The Petitioner being immediate neighbour of the Respondent No. 4 and others know the entire family and their ancestors. They belong to 'bya mahar' caste which falls in O.B.C. category. For deriving the benefit the Respondents No. 4 to 20 have obtained false certificates of S.T. from the competent officer, thus the matter be examined by the State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee. Shri Utkarsh Verma, learned Deputy Govt. Advocate appearing for the Respondents/State, per contra, would submit that the Collector is competent to verify the genuineness of a caste certificate, issued by the competent authority and it is not necessary to get the same examined by the State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee. However, the Petitioner should be granted liberty to approach the Committee, if so advised.

(3.) HAVING heard learned Counsel for the parties and having perused the documents appended thereto, it is evident that the caste certificates issued to the Respondents No. 4 to 20 as S.C. was issued by the competent authority. This is also not the case of the Petitioner that the caste certificates are false one. However, the case of the Petitioner is that if there is any dispute with regard to a caste of a matter to the Caste Scrutiny Committee before making a report to the Government that the caste certificates issued by the competent authority were correct. In the matter of Kumari Madhuri Patil and Anr. v. Addl. Commissioner, Tribal Development and Ors. ( : AIR 1995 SC 94), the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that the dispute with regard to the caste of S.C./ S.T./O.B.C. should be decided by the State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee. Thereafter, subsequently, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra and Ors. v. Ravi Prakash Babulalsing Parmar and Anr. (AIR 2006 SCW 6093), has observed that only because a claim is made by a person that he belongs to a member of a tribe notified to be Scheduled Tribe in terms of the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976, no immunity in absolute terms can be claimed. The makers of the Constitution laid emphasis on equality amongst citizens. Constitution of India provides for protective discrimination and reservation so as to enable the disadvantaged group to come on the same platform as that of the forward community. If and when a person takes an undue advantage of the said beneficent provision of the Constitution by obtaining the benefits of reservation and other benefits provided under the Presidential Order although he is not entitled thereto, he not only plays a fraud on the society but in effect and substance plays a fraud on the Constitution. The Caste Scrutiny Committee can go into the question as to whether a caste certificate has rightly been issued or not. The authorities concerned were also found to have some role to play in finding out the correctness or otherwise of the claim for issue of a caste certificate.