AASHISH KESHAV CHAVAN Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is seeking validation of his Tribe Claim as 'Thakur', which has been turned down by the respondent Scrutiny Committee by the impugned order. We have heard both the sides finally and perused the original record.

(2.) The submissions have been made by both the sides touching the merits and the reasoning assigned by the Scrutiny Committee in the impugned order. The learned AGP has also referred to the decision in the matter of Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti Vs. State of Maharashtra and Ors., 2023 SCC OnLine SC 326, to bring home the point that it would always be open for the Scrutiny Committee first to apply the mind to the documents produced in support of the claim and then seek a vigilance report. He also submits that the Scrutiny Committee has made up a mind to issue notices to the validity holders being relied upon by the petitioner and an appropriate decision would be taken in due course of time. The notices have also been issued to each of them in the year 2018.

(3.) We, at the outset, make it explicitly clear that whether the respondent Scrutiny Committee is entitled to reopen the cases of validity holders is a matter which we may not be indulging into. In this matter was need not ascertain if it is entitled to do so in law.