Allowed

Ku. Palak D/O Vinod Murai v. the District Caste Certificate Verification Scrutiny Committee, Thr. President Member Secy.

Bombay HC11 Aug 2023WP/4305/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

A writ petitioner challenging the invalidation of her OBC caste claim sought higher on merit and higher education eligibility.

What did the court decide?

The order dated 23/5/2023 was set aside; petitioner declared as 'Ahir' - OBC; Scrutiny Committee directed to issue validity certificate within three weeks.

What the court decided

Ku. Palak D/O Vinod Murai Vs the District Caste Certificate… — Caste Atrocities | Bombay HC (2023)

Judgment

WP-4305-2023

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

¶5

WRIT PETITION NO. 4305 OF 2023

¶6

Ku. Palak d/o Vinod Murai, aged about 18 years, Occ. Student, R/o Near Murai Palace, Shegaon Naka, Tarangan Nagar, Shegaon Naka V.M.V., Amravati – 444604.

¶7

PETITIONER

¶8

.....VERSUS..…

¶9

The District Caste Certificate Verification Scrutiny Committee, through its President Member Secretary, Amravati.

¶10

R ESPONDENT

¶11

Shri V.R. Choudhari, Advocate for the petitioner. Ms S.S. Jachak, Assistant Government Pleader for the respondent.

¶12

CORAM : A. S. CHANDURKAR AND MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, JJ. DATE : AUGUST 11, 2023 ORAL JUDGMENT :(PER : A.S. CHANDURKAR, J.)

¶13

RULE . Rule made returnable forthwith and heard the

¶14

learned counsel for the parties.

¶15

2] Since the petitioner seeks to pursue higher education, the Writ Petition is taken-up for final disposal.

¶16

3] The petitioner is aggrieved by the order passed by the Scrutiny Committee dated 23/5/2023 invalidating her claim of belonging to ‘Ahir’ - Other Backward Class.

¶17

4] Inter alia, the petitioner has relied upon five validity

¶18

WP-4305-2023 2 Judgment

¶19

certificates issued to various blood relatives from her paternal side. In addition, the document dated 1/2/1935 of her great grandfather with the entry ‘Ahir’ has also been relied upon. The Scrutiny Committee has however chosen to give importance to the statements of two persons that were recorded by the Vigilance Cell who were stated to be the residents of the same village who stated that the caste of the petitioner was ‘Kachi Ahir’.

¶20

5] We have heard the learned Counsel for the parties and we have perused the documents on record. It is not in dispute that the validity certificates were issued to the cousin brothers and sisters of the petitioner namely Shubham, Suraj, Saurabh and Ku. Pooja. While issuing these validity certificates, the Scrutiny Committee was satisfied that the claim as made was correct and it was satisfied with the said documents. Once the blood relatives of the petitioner were issued such validity certificates, they ought to have been granted due importance and weightage rather than the statements made by two persons who the petitioner says the family were not aware of. Such stand has been taken while submitting reply to the report of the Vigilance Cell. Except this reason assigned by the Scrutiny Committee, there is no other reason for invalidating the petitioner’s claim of belonging to ‘Ahir’ - Other Backward Class.

¶21

Insofar as the aspect of affinity is concerned, the same

¶22

¶23

WP-4305-2023 3 Judgment

¶24

cannot be treated to be a litmus test as held by the Larger Bench of this Court in Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti Vs. State of Maharashtra and others [2023(2) Mh.L.J. 785]. In addition, the document of the year 1935 has also been duly verified by the Vigilance Cell. In these facts, the view taken by the Scrutiny Committee is unsustainable.

¶25

7] For the aforesaid reasons, the following order is passed :

¶26

ORDER

¶27

The order dated 23/5/2023 passed by the Scrutiny Committee is set aside. It is declared that the petitioner belongs to ‘Ahir’ - Other Backward Class. The Scrutiny Committee shall within a period of three weeks issue validity certificate to the petitioner. Till the validity certificate is issued, the petitioner is free to rely upon the copy of this judgment to indicate that her claim of belonging to ‘Ahir’ - Other Backward Class has been upheld.

¶28

8] Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. No costs.

¶29

( MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, J. ) ( A.S. CHANDURKAR, J. )

¶30

Sumit

Ku. Palak D/O Vinod Murai v. the District Caste Certificate Verification Scrutiny Committee, Thr. President Member Secy.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

Ku. Palak D/O Vinod Murai v. the District Caste Certificate Verification Scrutiny Committee, Thr. President Member Secy.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Vaibhav Gopal Aher and Others Vs Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Amravati

Vilas S/O Yashwant Chatur and Others Vs the State of Maharashtra through the Chief Secretary, Mumbai and Others

Tulsabai Niranjan Gondane Vs Secretary, Deptt. of Higher and Technical Education, Mantralaya, Mumbai

Ku. Dipali Dushant Chaukhe Vs the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur Thr. Member Secretary

Meghan S/O Jayant Patwardhan Vs State Bank of India, Thr. Its Regional Manager, Nagpur and Another

Dr. Anand S/O Bhalchandra Barate and Others Vs State of Maha., Thr. Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Mumbai and Ors.