94wp1672.10.odt 1 . IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR Writ Petition No.1672 of 2010 (Digambar S. Mondhe and Ors. vs. State and Ors.) Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders or directions and Registrar's orders. Court's or Judge's orders Coram: D. D. Sinha and F. M. Reis, JJ. Date : 09/04/2010. Heard Mr. J. B. Kasat, Adv. for petitioners and Mrs.I.L.Bodade, Assistant Government Pleader for respondent nos. 1 to 5. In the instant petition, the petitioners are challenging validity of provisions of Section 10-1A of the Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1958 being violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. Counsel for the petitioners states that the petitioners are desirous of contesting elections of Gram Panchayat and are holding the caste certificates belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Classes categories. It is further contended that the caste certificates issued by the competent Authority were submitted before the Tahsildar, who has forwarded the certificates to the Collector, who further forwarded them to the Caste Scrutiny Committee for verification. It is submitted that the election of Members of Gram Panchayat has been declared before the Caste Scrutiny Committee would complete the verification proceedings. Section 10-1A requires a candidate desirous of 94wp1672.10.odt 2 . contesting election to a seat reserved for reserved category candidate to submit along with nomination paper a caste certificate issued by the competent Authority and Validity Certificate issued by the Caste Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of)Caste Certificate Act, 2000 ( In short, “ the Caste Scrutiny Act of 2000”). It is contended that once a certificate is referred by the Collector to the Caste Scrutiny Committee for verification, it is entirely within the purview of the Caste Scrutiny Committee within what time to complete the verification proceeding and the candidate has virtually no control over the same. It is, therefore, contended that the provision is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. Considered the contentions canvassed by the respective Counsel. The incidents of procuring false certificates from the Competent Authority not only enable the ineligible persons to avail of the concessions and reservations in the matter of securing employment or admission in the educational institution, but also contesting for or being elected to any of the elective Offices reserved for the candidates belonging to the reserved category. It is also resulting in depriving the genuine members of the reserved category of the said concessions and reservations, which has defeated the very purpose of such concessions and reservations. While construing the provision, it is necessary to see the purpose and object which is to be achieved. Plain reading of the provision would show that any person desirous of contesting election to a seat reserved for the member of reserved category 94wp1672.10.odt 3 . shall be required to submit along with the nomination paper, a certificate issued by the competent Authority and Validity certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the provisions of the Maharashtra Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000. The mandatory requirement of submission of the Caste certificate as well as the Validity Certificate along with the nomination form in respect of the seat reserved for reserved category candidate, in our view, is consistent with the object of the provision and will eliminate ineligible person to avail the benefit of concession and reservations. It will also not deprive the genuine members of the reserved caste community such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Nomadic Tribe, Other Backward Classes, Special Backward Category etc. of the said concessions and reservations. Since the requirement under the provisions of Section 10-1A of the Act is equally applicable to the entire reserved category, the question of discrimination does not arise. Hence, the contention canvassed by the learned Counsel in this regard must fail, since it is not violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Article 21 of the Constitution of India mandates that no person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. Life or personal liberty includes right to live with human dignity. Looking to the Scheme of provision of Section 10-1A of the Act and its applicability, it is neither inconsistent nor violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. 94wp1672.10.odt 4 . Hence, no case is made out for showing indulgence. The Writ Petition is, therefore, dismissed. JUDGE JUDGE jais