RAMKRISHNA MANGESH KENI Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is primarily aggrieved by the order of the additional Municipal Commissioner (E. S) of the Bombay Municipal Corporation passed by him on 13th June 2002 holding the petitioner to be disqualified for being Municipal Councillor under Section 16 (1c) (a) of the Bombay Municipal corporation Act, 1888 and declaring him deemed to have vacated the office on and from 30th May 2002 on the basis of the decision of the Committee for scrutiny and Verification of tribe Claims, Konkan Division, Thane holding him not belonging to the reserved category of Mahadev Koli. The petitioner is therefore, principally prejudiced, hurt and injured by the decision of the said Committee dated 30th May 2002 holding his caste claim of Mahadev Koli as invalid and cancelling his caste certificate issued to him by the Executive Magistrate, Bombay city vide No. MAG/cc/st/1/1990 dated 31st January 1990. The petitioner has given challenge to the legality and validity of both the aforesaid orders under article 226 of the Constitution of India in the present writ petition. Since under the mandate issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Kumari Madhuri Patil, air 1995 SC 94 such petitions are to be heard and disposed of within 3 months from the date of filing, I have given top priority to this petition. I have heard the learned Counsel on both the sides at length and I have gone through the proceedings and considered the case law cited before me on behalf of the petitioner.

(2.) SHRI Sakhare, the learned Sr. Counsel for the petitioner has made a serious grievance against the decision of the Committee being totally baseless and perverse. Shri Sakhare submits that the Committee has not considered the voluminous documents produced by his client before the committee to establish his claim that he was a Mahadev Koli by caste. According to him, the petitioner had produced several caste and school leaving certificates of his relatives, kins and kiths from his paternal side as also from the maternal side which conclusively prove that he belongs to Mahadev Koli. Shri Sakhare further submits that this Court has accepted the caste claim of Mahadev Koli of his own son for medical seat by the judgment and order dated 24th June 1988 in Writ Petition no. 2088 of 1986 between Manoj Ramkrishna Keni and the State of Maharashtra and Ors. The learned Counsel, however, fairly stated that the said judgment was not produced before the Committee. Shri Sakhare was at pains to take me through each and every certificate on record to satisfy me independently that his client belonged to the Tribe (caste) of Mahadev Koli. He also referred to the statement of his client recorded by the Vigilance Officer and also his report submitted to the Committee. The learned Counsel also referred to a Marathi book by Dr. Govind Gare giving his observations about tribal life, customs, traits and other salient features of Mahadev Koli. This book appears to be the author's research work on tribals in the area of Sahyadri. Shri Sakhare has assailed the findings and conclusions of the Committee that the petitioner belonged to Koli caste and not Mahadev Koli, the scheduled tribe without any basis and foundation. In support of his submission, Shri Sakhare, the learned Counsel for the petitioner cited the following decision of this Court as also the Supreme Court:

(3.) SHRI Mehta, the learned Counsel for the B. M. C. , on the other hand reminded me of the limited parameters of the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. According to him this Court is not required to reappreciate and reassess the evidence before the Committee as a Court of appeal. Shri Mehta submits that the Committee has gone through and considered the whole evidence produced by the petitioner and has recorded its findings on the basis of such evidence and, therefore, there was little scope for judicial review of the impugned decision of the Committee. He justified the conclusions of the committee that the petitioner did not belong to the Mahadev koli tribe. He also took me through the caste/ school leaving certificates to show that the petitioner's close relatives were described as Hindu Koli through out and not Mahadev Koli, as rightly observed by the Committee. Shri Mehta submits that the Committee has validly discarded all the documents produced by the petitioner. The claim of the petitioner that he belongs to Mahadev Koli was spurious and bogus, says the learned Counsel and he justifies the decision of the committee and the consequential order passed by the B. M. C. to unseat him from the floor of the Municipal House and to declare him as disqualified to hold the office from the reserved constituency as a reserved candidate. He prays for dismissal of the petition.