ANUSHRI VIJAY ANDE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Prima facie we are not satisfied that there is any ground for interference with the impugned order of 4/10/2022 passed by the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Konkan Division, Thane, invalidating the Petitioner's claim to belong to the Koli Malhar Scheduled Tribe. This Tribe has been so notified, i.e., as a Scheduled Tribe, ultimately by Parliamentary Act 108 of 1976. It was previously notified as a Scheduled Tribe by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe Order (Amendment) Act , 1956 but limited to Thane district. That was with effect from 28/11/1986.

(2.) The application by the Petitioner before the 2nd Respondent Committee was sought to be supported by reference to several documents of the Petitioner's relatives including her father, grandfather, and paternal uncle.

(3.) As Mrs Gavhane, learned AGP, points out that all the documents in question are after the year 2000 except for those of Shankar Rama Ande, the grandfather who has two documents of 1961 and 1980 respectively. But before the Committee, considerable reliance was placed on the validity certificates of the uncle, the father, another uncle, (i.e., father's brother), the father's cousin and the grandfather. The paternal uncle (father's brother), Ajay Shankar Ande, apparently applied for a validity certificate and this was in respect of the claim of belonging not to the Malhar Koli Scheduled Tribe but to the Koli Mahadeo Scheduled Tribe. That claim was rejected as long ago as 1995.