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Judgment
[PER - JITENDRA JAIN, J.] :-
Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent, taken up for final hearing.
This petition is filed challenging order dated 1st August 2018 passed by Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee, invalidating the Tribe Certificate dated 23rd February 2010, issued to the petitioner by holding that the petitioner does not belong to “Tokre Koli” Scheduled Tribe.
Pending the present petition, the petitioner has brought on record the validity certificates issued post 1st August 2018 to his sister – Snehal and cousin – Aditya.
The main thrust of the counsel for the petitioner is to remand the matter for adjudication afresh in the light of subsequent developments in case of his sister and cousin. Per contra, the learned AGP does not seriously contest the said submission made by the petitioner.
We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned AGP for the State.
The Vigilance Cell, while conducting inquiry in the case of the claim made by the petitioner's sister, have relied on the documents issued by the Headmaster, wherein it is certified that Tukaram Shivram Sonawane, great-grandfather, belongs to Tokre Koli Scheduled Tribe. Further, in the case of sister, affidavit of the translator has been filed, who has translated school document, which was in Modee script, to certify, based on which the certificate has been issued by the Headmaster. Based on these documents, validity certificate has been issued to the sister of the petitioner on 17th May 2024. The sister has also filed an affidavit while making claim, in which she has reproduced genealogy. In the said affidavit, petitioner is shown as brother of Snehal and the father of the sibling is Avinash, who is son of Baliram. The great grandfather of the petitioner, and the sister is Tukaram Shivram Sonawane, whose school records have been relied while issuing certificate in the case of petitioner's sister. Tukaram Shivram Sonawane is great-grandfather of the petitioner who was admitted to the school on 22nd August 1907 and he was born on 21st December 1887. This pre constitutional era document on the basis of which Tribe Certificate was issued to sister was not available while considering the petitioner’s claim.
Similarly, on the same day, that is 17th May 2024, validity certificate was issued to Aditya Sonawane, who is the first cousin of the petitioner.
It is also the case of the petitioner that certificate of validity issued to Nilesh Sonawane, cousin of the petitioner, on 15th December 2005, has not been reopened till today.
Admittedly, above documents, except in the case of Nilesh Sonawane, were not available when the case of the petitioner was being considered by Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee. In our view, the Tribe Certificates issued to the sister of the petitioner and cousin - Aditya, would be relevant for considering the claim of the petitioner, and since these certificates were issued after the impugned order, it would be in the interest of justice that the impugned order dated 1st August 2018 is quashed and set aside with a direction to Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee to re-examine the claim of the petitioner afresh independently by considering the Validity Certificate issued to the sister and the cousin of the petitioner.
The learned AGP submitted by referring to page no. 2 of the impugned order, that prior to 1976, the tribe recorded in school admission register book of the grandfather and great-grandfather, cousin great-grandfather and real grandfather and cousin uncle was Hindu Koli, and it is only from 1976 that “Tokre Koli” has been mentioned in the school admission register book of the petitioner's father, real uncle and the petitioner. In our view, these documents have to be considered in the light of the report made by Vigilance Cell, wherein the document of 1907, based on the school register, it is certified that the birth date of the great-grandfather was 21st December 1887 and he was admitted to the school on 22nd August 1907 and the tribe mentioned was “Tokre Koli”. This pre-constitutional document was not available and therefore would require consideration afresh by Respondent No. 2 Committee.
Learned AGP further submitted that in the case of the sister of the petitioner, a show cause notice dated 10th February 2024 has been issued for verification of the tribe certificate issued. The proceedings as on today are pending. Since we have directed Respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee to examine the issue afresh in light of the documents considered in the case of the petitioner's sister and cousin Aditya, Respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee would also, while deciding petitioner's claim, consider independently the material available in the case of sister and the cousin Aditya, and would come to an independent conclusion, and therefore this apprehension of the learned AGP is also addressed, in remand proceedings.
We may record that learned AGP has fairly stated that since these documents were not available on the date when the impugned order was passed, there is no objection if the matter is remanded back with a direction to complete the proceedings within certain time frame.
In view of the above, we pass the following order :-
ORDER
A) Impugned order dated 1st August 2018 is quashed and set aside.
B) The matter is remanded back to Respondent No. 2 Scrutiny Committee for fresh adjudication after considering independently the documents on the basis of which tribe validation certificate has been issued to the petitioner's sister and cousin Aditya.
C) Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee to conclude the proceedings within four months from the date of uploading of the present order.
D) All contentions of both the parties are kept open in remand proceedings. It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any opinion on merits of the claim.
In view of the above terms, the petition is disposed of.
Rule is made absolute.
No order as to costs.