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Judgment
(Per M.W.Chandwani, J.)
On oral motion, permission is granted to the petitioner to correct the cause title of the petition for incorporating the recent status of respondent no. 1 as per the Government Resolution dated 10.12.2019. Necessary amendment be carried out forthwith.
The Caste claim of the petitioner that she belongs to “Mana” (Scheduled Tribe) which is enlisted at Serial No. 18 under The Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order, 1950 came to be invalidated by respondent no.1 – The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chandrapur (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) vide impugned order dated 31.05.2014 relying upon only one contra entry in the extract of School Admission Register dated 01.07.1946 showing the caste of the grandfather of the petitioner namely Kashinath Krushna Zade , as ‘Mane”.
The petitioner was pursuing Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) at the time of filing of the petition on a seat reserved for “Mana” (Scheduled Tribe). After obtaining the Caste certificate of “Mana” (Scheduled Tribe), the petitioner applied for validation of her Caste claim before the Committee. She relied on various documents belonging to herself as well as her forefathers and blood relatives showing their caste as “Mana”. The matter was referred to the Vigilance Cell for enquiry. During the enquiry, various documents were obtained by the Vigilance Cell showing the caste of the petitioner and her forefathers as “Mana”. The Committee ignored all the documents including the oldest document of the year 1918-19 i.e. Bandobast Misal (P1) pertaining to the great-great-grandfather of the petitioner showing consistent entry of the caste as “Mana”.
It appears that the Committee has lost sight of the legal position that the oldest document has more probative value as compared to all other documents. That apart, it is brought to our notice that during pendency of this petition, the real brother of the petitioner namely Suhas Vasant Zade has been granted validity certificate that he belongs to “Mana” (Scheduled Tribe). This fact has not been disputed by the learned A.G.P. A copy of the Validity Certificate issued in the name of the real brother of the petitioner and a copy of the claim application filed by petitioner’s brother before the Committee, are placed on record and marked as “X1” and “X2”, respectively, for identification. Therefore, there is no doubt in respect of the caste claim of the petitioner that she belongs to “Mana” (Scheduled Tribe).
A reference can be made to the decision in the case of Apoorva Vinay Nichale .vs. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No.1 and others, reported at 2010 (6) Mah.L.J. 401 wherein, it has been categorically held that if the candidate submits the caste validities issued in the name of his/her blood relatives, then the Committee shall issue validity certificate to the candidate/ petitioner, unless it is shown that the validity has been obtained by the blood relatives by playing fraud. Therefore, the findings recorded by the Committee are required to be set aside.
Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed.
The impugned order dated 31.05.2014 passed by respondent no.1 – The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chandrapur, is set aside.
It is declared that the petitioner belongs to “Mana” which is recognized as Scheduled Tribe.
The respondent no.1 – The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chandrapur is directed to issue Caste Validity Certificate to the petitioner within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order.
Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. The writ petition stands disposed of. No order as to costs.