KHUSHAL Vs. SCHEDULE TRIBE CERTIFICATE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Learned AGP waives service. At the joint request of the parties, the matter is heard finally at the stage of admission.

(2.) By way of this petition, the petitioner is impugning the order of the respondent - Scrutiny Committee passed in a proceeding under Sec. 7 of the The Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 (the Act) thereby confiscating and cancelling his certificate as belonging to "Thakur" scheduled tribe.

(3.) The learned advocate for the petitioner would take us through the papers and would submit that he had produced enough documentary evidence before the scrutiny committee to substantiate his claim. There was an oldest school leaving certificate of his great grandfather Rupsing Sada Thakur who was admitted to the school on 7/3/1918 denoting his caste as "Thakur". Then there was a similar school leaving certificate of his cousin grandfather Padmasing Rupsingh Thakur who had taken admission in school on 10/6/1939. The school leaving certificate of grandfather Ramesh Rupsing Thakur of 25/8/1956 was also describing him as "Thakur". Father's paternal aunt Sindhubai Rupsingh Thakur who was admitted in school on 4/8/1950 with an entry in the caste column as "Thakur". He would submit that in spite of such oldest documents indicating petitioner's forefathers having been treated as Thakur, the committee has committed gross error in refusing to ascribe due weightage to such entries. He would submit that such a stand of the committee is wholly inconsistent with the decision of the Supreme Court in the matters of Anand Vs. Committee for Scrutiny and Verification of Tribe Claims and Ors.; (2012) 1 SCC 113, Veena Ashok Godse @ Veena Hemant Sonawane Vs. State (Civil Appeal No.19968/2017).