BHUMIKA Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally with the consent of the parties.

(2.) In this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, read with the Maharashtra Act No. XXIII of 2001 and Rules of 2003, the petitioner is challenging the order dtd. 29/11/2020 passed by respondent no. 2 - Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee (hereinafter -the Committee-), whereby it has refused to validate her 'Tokre Koli' Scheduled Tribe Certificate and directed it to be confiscated and cancelled, in a proceeding under that Act.

(3.) Learned advocate for the petitioner would submit that there are pre-constitutional entries in school admission register and birth and death's register maintained in the ordinary course, describing the petitioner's forefathers as 'Dhor Koli', 'Koli Dhor' and 'Tokre Koli'. Petitioner has produced coloured photocopies of all the preconstitutional entries from the Z.P. School and birth and death register of Tahsil Office, Shahada. Respondent-Committee has discarded these entries on the basis of recommendation in the vigilance report about there being interpolation of pages in the school register as well as in the birth and death register maintained in Tahsil Office. It is urged that interpolated pages are in different handwriting and different ink. According to the learned advocate, petitioner cannot assign any reason for such interpolation, as these documents were in custody of Government Office. According to him, none of the members of petitioner's family or his blood rein were serving or had any direct or indirect role in maintaining the entries. As such he would urge that no malice can be attributed to him. He has relied on the judgment of Manisha D/o Madhavrao Wantekar Vs. The State of Maharashtra And Others; in Writ Petition No.13162 of 2023, decided on 15/1/2024 and Civil Appeal arising out of SLP(C)No.27410 of 2024. Learned advocate would further submit that there are preconstitutional entries of the year 1912, 1915, 1930, 1947 and 1950, which have more evidentiary value. In this background, the Committee ought to have validated the tribe claim of the petitioner as the preconstitutional entries have more probative value, as has been held in various judgments.