SHUBHAM Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with the consent of the parties and taken up for final disposal at the stage of admission. Perused the papers.

(2.) The Petitioner has invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for assailing the order dtd. 22/4/2021 passed by Respondent No. 2 ' Scrutiny Committee invalidating his claim of 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe. The Petitioner is the student pursuing B.E. (Electrical) course in the Respondent No. 3 ' Institution. The Petitioner was issued with the caste certificate of belonging to the 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe by the competent authority. For the education purpose, the tribe claim of the Petitioner was referred for verification to the Respondent No. 2 ' Scrutiny Committee. The tribe claim of the Petitioner was duly processed by the Scrutiny Committee and by the impugned order, it invalidated the same and cancelled the Tribe Certificate and directed action under the provisions of Sec. 10 and 11 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 [hereinafter referred to as 'Said Act of 2000"].

(3.) It is submitted by the learned advocate for the Petitioner that though there is an entry of the year 1917 in respect of blood relation of the Petitioner showing the caste as 'Thakur', the Respondent No. 2 ' Scrutiny Committee considered the contra entries of the year 1922 and 1924 in respect of the persons who are not related to the Petitioner by blood. He further submitted that, though all the documents in respect of the blood relation of the Petitioner submitted by him during verification were having the caste entry as 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe, still the Scrutiny Committee discarded the same and invalidated the claim. It is further submitted that the reference to the rejection of validity of Monika and Chetan, who are shown to be the relatives of the petitioner, is misplaced as Monika and Chetan are not at all relatives of the Petitioner. It is submitted that the impugned order is illegal and same be quashed and set aside and the Respondent No. 2 be directed to issue the validity certificate in favour of the Petitioner of 'Thakur' Scheduled Tribe.