AVINASH D MANDVIKAR Vs. BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RULE returnable forthwith. Respondent waive service. By consent petition is taken up for final hearing.

(2.) THE petitioner joined the services of the respondent bank on October 15, 1976 under the reserved category of Scheduled Tribe. By the order of appointment respondent bank put the petitioner on probation for a period of six months and his services came to be confirmed on putting satisfactory services of six months. In 1984 the petitioner was promoted in the reserved category to the post of Junior Management Scale I. The petitioner was asked to submit fresh caste certificate in the revised form as he was promoted in the reserved category and his caste certificate was referred to the Committee for scrutiny and verification of Tribe Claims, Pune Division, Pune for verification on June 13, 1987. The Scrutiny Committee invalidated the caste certificate of the petitioner vide order dated July 18, 1987. However, the Order was set aside by the Court in Writ Petition No. 3680 of 1994 and the matter was remanded to the Scrutiny Committee for fresh hearing. Again the Scrutiny Committee invalidated caste certificate of the petitioner by Order dated June 17, 1995. By Order dated August 7, 1996 this Court again remanded the case to the Scrutiny Committee. The Scrutiny Committee invalidated the caste certificate of the petitioner vide order dated December 24, 1998.

(3.) THE petitioner again approached this Court by filing Writ Petition No. 3459 of 1999 which came to be withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh writ petition. The petitioner thereafter, filed Writ Petition No. 7083 of 2000 which came to be disposed of by the Division Bench on April 12, 2001, by passing the following Order: "mr. R. K. Mendadkar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that in view of the pendency of enquiry proceedings initiated against the petitioner, he may be permitted to withdraw this writ petition. He submits that, if any adverse decision is given by the Enquiry Officer or the petitioner's services are affected by any order passed by the disciplinary authority on the basis of finding of the Enquiry Officer, liberty may be granted to the petitioner to challenge the legality and correctness of the order of the Committee for Scrutiny and Verification of Tribe Claims, Pune, dated December 24, 1998 and the orders of the Enquiry Officer and the Disciplinary Authority. " 2. We find that the prayer of the learned counsel for the petitioner is reasonable and accordingly we dismiss the writ petition as withdrawn. In case the enquiry officer gives his findings adverse to the petitioner or the disciplinary authority pass any order adverse to the petitioner's service, it would be open to the petitioner to challenge the enquiry proceedings as well as the order passed by the Committee for Scrutiny and Verification on the Tribe Claims, Pune on December 24, 1998. 3. It would be open to the petitioner to raise all contentions before the enquiry officer challenging the order passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee. "