1 Mgn IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL, CIVIL JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.1169 OF 2009 Abdul Kayyum Ahmed Tamboli )..PETITIONER Versus Manmohan Suryakant Chonkar & Ors. )..RESPONDENTS Mr. Vineet B. Naik with Ms. Manjari S. Parasnis, for the Petitioner Mr. R.K. Mendadkar, for Respondent No.1. Mr. Shekhar Ingawale, AGP for Respondent Nos. 2,3 and 5. Mrs. Shobha S. Ajitkumar for respondent No.4. CORAM : F.I. REBELLO & J.H. BHATIA, JJ. DATE : 23RD FEBRUARY, 2010 P.C. We have heard learned Counsel for the parties at length. The petitioner herein had disputed the caste claim of the respondent No.1 as belonging to Sonar, a notified O.B.C., in the State of Maharashtra. Initially his case claim was rejected by the Committee by its order dated 20th April, 2007. The Respondent No.1 being aggrieved by the same preferred a Petition before this Court being Writ Petition No. 3793 of 2007. A learned Bench of this Court by order dated 5th August, 2008 was pleased to remand the matter to the Committee for reconsideration. The Committee 2 on reconsideration has held that the respondent No.1 belongs to caste Sonar and has consequently validated the certificate by majority judgment. It is this order which is the subject matter of challenge before this Court. 2. At the hearing of this petition on behalf of the petitioner learned Counsel has pointed out to us that on the scrutiny of the report of the Vigilance Cell it would be clear that the entries in the School Leaving Certificate of the Respondent No.1 and of his father are fabricated. Once that be the case, it is submitted that the claim of the respondent No.1 ought to have been rejected. It is further pointed out that the Committee did not appreciate this aspect in its correct perspective. 3. On the other hand on behalf of the contesting Respondent the learned Counsel submits that they have produced a document of their blood relative Shri Shrikrishna Appaji Chonkar whose genealogy has been filed and not disputed by the petitioner before the Committee which entry is of the year 1923 in the School Register and which clearly shows that the caste of the said Shri Shrikrishna Appaji Chonkar as Sonar. It is further submitted that the oral evidence was led by them before the Caste Scrutiny Committee which shows that Shri Suryakant Vinayak Chonkar the father of the petitioner was carrying on the work of Goldsmith atleast from the year 1940 It is, therefore, submitted that considering the test of preponderance of evidence the finding by the committee on facts cannot be interfered with. 4. On consideration of the arguments advanced we find that the documentary evidence in respect of the Respondent No.1 and his father considering serious doubts 3 as to the authenticity will have to be excluded from consideration. Considering that this is a civil dispute what has to be considered is the test of preponderance of evidence. In that case we find that there is documentary evidence of Shri Shrikrishna Appaji Chonkar who is related to the Respondent No.1 which was not disputed on behalf of the petitioner herein. Secondly and more importantly the father of the Respondent No.1 was carrying on business of Goldsmith and working atleast since 1940. If the statement of Shri Shri Sakharam Vinayak Kushte is considered it has to be accepted. Similarly, Shri Zilloo Rajaram Akerkar has stated that he was working in the shop of the respondent No.1’s father from the year 1953 to 1963 so also Shri Milind Anant Kulkarni has deposed that his father had done the work in the shop of Shri Suryakant in the year 1966 to 1982. The documentary evidence coupled with the fact that the profession carried on by the respondent No.1 and his father was of Goldsmith it would be clear that they have satisfied that they belong to caste Sonar. These are purely findings of fact. Therefore, we cannot find any fault with the ultimate conclusion arrived at by the majority judgment and hence in our opinion this is not a fit case for us to interfere in our extra ordinary jurisdiction. Writ Petition accordingly rejected. ( J.H. BHATIA, J.) (F. I. REBELLO, J.) 4