SAMRI LAL Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Office is directed to correct the designation of the respondent no. 3 as "The Member Secretary, Caste Scrutiny Committee-cum-Special Secretary, Department of Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi" in the cause title of the writ petition.

(2.) The present writ petition has been filed for quashing the order as contained in memo no. 1053 dtd. 1/4/2022 (Annexure-6 to the writ petition) issued under the signature of the Member Secretary, Caste Scrutiny Committee-cum- Special Secretary, Department of Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare, Government of Jharkhand (the respondent no.3) whereby the Caste Scrutiny Committee (hereinafter referred as "the Committee") has cancelled Caste Certificate No. 6819 dtd. 31/10/2009 issued in favour of the petitioner by the Circle Officer, Town Circle, Ranchi treating the same to have been illegally issued.

(3.) Mr. Anil Kumar Sinha, learned senior counsel for the petitioner, submits that the petitioner belongs to 'Bhangi (Mehtar)' caste which was included in the Schedule of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (in short "the Order, 1950"), Part-III- Bihar by virtue of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes List (Modification) Order, 1956 (in short "the Modification Order, 1956") and accordingly, Caste Certificate No. 6819 dtd. 31/10/2009 was issued in his favour by the Circle Officer, Town Anchal, Ranchi. The petitioner is a member of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly from Kanke assembly constituency which is a reserved seat for Scheduled Caste. He was born and brought-up in Ranchi and had been contesting different elections since 1985 without objection raised by anyone. It is further submitted that at the time of filing nomination papers to contest the last assembly election from the said constituency, the petitioner's caste certificate was challenged by filing a writ petition being W.P.(C) No. 6502 of 2019 (Priya Ranjan Sahay Vs. The Election Commission of India and Others) claiming that the petitioner had suppressed the fact of his place of origin i.e., State of Rajasthan, however the said writ petition was dismissed by this Court vide order dtd. 4/12/2019 observing that since the election process was continuing and the dispute raised by the petitioner of the said writ petition was in relation to acceptance of nomination papers by the returning officer, the said writ petition was not maintainable. Subsequently, the respondent no. 4- Suresh Kumar Baitha filed a complaint before Caste Scrutiny Committee for cancellation of the petitioner's caste certificate alleging that the petitioner is not an original resident of Jharkhand, rather his father had migrated from the State of Rajasthan in search of livelihood. The respondent no.4 also objected the petitioner's election by filing an election petition being E.P. No. 03/2020 which is still pending adjudication before a Bench of this Court. It is also submitted that the respondent no. 3 issued various show causes notices to the petitioner which were replied by him asserting that he is a permanent resident of the State of Jharkhand and is legally entitled to take benefit of reservation in view of the fact that he belongs to the caste "Bhangi (Mehtar)" which was included in the list of scheduled castes by the Modification Order, 1956. The petitioner also produced some documents in support of his claim, however the Caste Scrutiny Committee, vide order as contained in memo No. 1053 dtd. 1/4/2022, cancelled his caste certificate treating the same to have been illegally issued.