Allowed

Ku. Shravani D/O Ganesh Wankhede v. State of Maharashtra, Thr. Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mumbai and Ors.

Bombay HC16 Sept 2022WP/2685/2022

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The Court allowed the petition holding that Validity Certificates issued to the petitioner's paternal relatives are conclusive proof of social status and can be used by other relatives for tribal claims, as they remain valid wherever submitted absent proof of fraud.

What did the court decide?

Direction to the Scrutiny Committee, Amravati to issue a validity certificate to the petitioner as belonging to 'Thakur', Scheduled Tribe within three weeks.

Ku. Shravani D/O Ganesh Wankhede Vs State of Maharashtra… — Caste Atrocities | Bombay HC (2022)

¶1

¶2

16-9-2022-wp-2685-2022.odt

¶3

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR

¶4

Writ Petition No.2685 of 2022

¶5

Ku. Shravani d/o Ganesh Wankhede,
Aged 18 years,
Occupation – Student,
R/o Sunderkhed,
Behind Kothari Honda Showroom,
Shiv Chatrapati Nagar,
Khamgaon Road,
Buldhana 443302.

¶6

… Petitioner

¶7

Versus

¶8

1.State of Maharashtra, through its Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mantralaya, Mumbai.

¶9

2.The Chairman,
Scheduled Tribe Certificate
Scrutiny Committee,
Amravati Division,
Amravati.

¶10

3.The Headmaster,
Janta High School and Junior College,
Neri, Tah. Jammer,
District Jalgaon.… Respondents

¶11

Shri R.S. Parsodkar, Advocate for Petitioner.

¶12

Smt. K.S. Joshi, Additional Government Pleader for
Respondent Nos.1 and 2.
Shri Abhinav Pannase, Advocate for Respondent No.3.

¶13

CORAM: SUNIL B. SHUKRE & G.A. SANAP, JJ.
DATE : 16th SEPTEMBER, 2022

¶14

¶15

16-9-2022-wp-2685-2022.odt

¶16

ORAL JUDGMENT (PER SUNIL B. SHUKRE, J.) :

¶17

1.Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally by
consent of the learned counsel appearing for the parties.

¶18

2.It is seen that there are two validity certificates issued by the
Scrutiny Committee at Aurangabad to the paternal relatives of the
petitioner; one in favour of Gajanan Kishanrao Wankhede, the paternal
uncle; and the other in favour of Sunita Kishanrao Wankhede, the
paternal aunt. These validity certificates have been rejected by the
respondent No.2- Scrutiny Committee at Amravati on the ground that
they were issued by the Scrutiny Committee at Aurangabad, which did
not have any jurisdiction over the native place of these two paternal
relatives. The ground of rejection putforth in the impugned order is
illegal, as there is no law which restricts the validity certificate only to
the area over which the Scrutiny Committee has it’s jurisdiction. Once
the validity certificate is granted to a claimant, it becomes a conclusive
proof of the social status acquired by that person for all purposes and
in any territory where such proof is required to be submitted.

¶19

Therefore, such validity certificates can also be used as having
sufficient evidentiary value in the caste or tribe claim raised by the
other paternal relatives of a person in whose favour those certificates
are issued. We, therefore, find that the reasoning adopted by the
Scrutiny Committee is wrong and we are also of the view that only on

¶20

¶21

16-9-2022-wp-2685-2022.odt

¶22

the basis of the validity certificates issued in favour of the paternal
relatives of the petitioner, the petitioner is also entitled to have his
tribe certificate validated by the Scrutiny Committee, especially when
it has not been shown that these validity certificates have been
revisited on the ground that they were obtained by fraud or by making
misrepresentation or by suppressing material facts having a bearing on
the claim made by these paternal relatives of the petitioner.

¶23

3.The petition is, therefore, allowed in terms of
prayer clause (1). The Scrutiny Committee, Amravati, is directed to
issue a validity certificate to the petitioner as belonging to ‘Thakur’,
Scheduled Tribe within a period of three weeks from the date of this
order.

¶24

4. Rule is made absolute in above terms. No costs.

¶25

 (G.A. SANAP, J.) (SUNIL B. SHUKRE, J.)

¶26

Lanjewar

¶27

Digitally Signed By :P D LANJEWAR Signing Date:16.09.2022 18:52

Ku. Shravani D/O Ganesh Wankhede v. State of Maharashtra, Thr. Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mumbai and Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Ku. Shravani D/O Ganesh Wankhede v. State of Maharashtra, Thr. Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mumbai and Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Amrutpalsingh S/O Manoharsingh Kapoor Vs State of Maharashtra, Thr. Secretary, Revenue and Forest Dept., Mumbai and Others

Miss. Janhavi D/O Subhash Jambhule Vs Deputy Director and Member Secretary, the S.T. Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Amravati

Mr. Devendra S/O Yashwant Mahajan and Others Vs Union of India, through Its Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, New Delhi and Others

The Majlis-E-Madrasa-E-Saifiya, through President Anwar Khan Wahed Khan and Another Vs the State of Maha. Thr. Principal Secretary, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dept. and Other

Mulibai Charkha Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Washim Thr. President Haribhau N. Kshirsagar and Others Vs State of Maharashtra through Its Secretary Ministry of Vocational and Training Department and Other

The Majlis-E-Madrasa-E-Saifiya, through President Anwar Khan Wahed Khan and Another Vs the State of Maha. Thr. Principal Secretary, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dept. and Other