Dhaneshwar Karmali vs Commissioner, North Chotanagpur Division and Others

This appeal has been preferred against the judgment and order dated 4.2.2009 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P. (C) No. 1910 of 2003, by which the writ petition was dismissed and consequently the order passed by the Divisional Commissioner, North Chotanagpur Division, Hazaribagh was upheld.

The Commissioner, North Chotanagpur Division, Hazaribagh had been pleased to set aside the order passed by the Additional Collector, who had been pleased to hold that the appellant is a member of the Schedule Tribe community, since the appellant ancestor''s name in the Record of Rights is indicated as ''Lohar'' and not as ''Karmali''. The Commissioner, therefore, was pleased to hold that the appellant belongs to the community of Lohar, who, at best, can claim the benefit of OBC and cannot claim the benefit of a Schedule Tribe as his caste in the Record of Rights is not recorded as ''Karmali'' but as ''Lohar''.

The Counsel for the appellant assailed the order passed by the Commissioner before the learned Single Judge, but the learned Single Judge was pleased to dismiss the writ petition against which this appeal has been preferred.

Learned Counsel for the appellant submitted that the entries in the Record of Rights in regard to the appellant''s ancestors were recorded differently, meaning thereby that in regard to the ancestors of two brothers of the appellant, the caste was recorded as ''Karmali'', whereas the caste of other brother of the appellant ancestor was recorded as ''Lohar'' and, therefore, the appellant could not have been deprived of the benefit of caste of Karmali by treating him as Lohar, rather the appellant should have been treated in the category of ''Karmali'', so as to grant him the benefit of restoration of the land on account of the fact that he belongs to the class of Schedule Tribe.

It is quite clear from this contention that the appellant essentially is aggrieved of the fact that he should be granted the benefit of restoration of the land as he belongs to ''Karmali'' community and not ''Lohar'' community. However, this cannot be determined at the stage of Letter Patent as the Commissioner, North Chotanagpur Division has relied upon the entries made in the Record of Rights, at least, in so far as the appellant''s ancestor is concerned. What benefit will he be entitled to claim on account of the fact that his uncle''s caste was recorded as ''Karmali'' and not as ''Lohar'', cannot be a subject matter of determination in this appeal as the question to which caste the appellant belongs is a question of fact and can be determined only by the competent authority under the Rules and unless that is determined, the order passed by the Commissioner and the learned Single Judge cannot be interfered with, so as to hold that the lands should be restored in favour of the appellant by holding that he belongs to the Schedule Tribe community contrary to the entries made in the Record of Rights.

The appeal, therefore, is not fit to be entertained and hence it is dismissed at the admission stage itself.