W.P.No.8181 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO.8181 OF 2009 Anand s/o Balaji Dasare, Age Minor, U/g Father Balaji s/o Bhanudasrao Dasare, Occu.Student, R/o Kalandi, Post Kalegaon, Taluka Nilanga, District Latur ..PETITIONER VERSUS 1. Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, through its Vice-Chairman, Kasmira Sadan, Railway Station road, Aurangabad 2. Chatrapati Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Government Medical College, Kolhapur, through Dean ..RESPONDENTS Mr Suresh M.Kulkarni, Advocate for petitioner Mr R.P.Phatke, Advocate for respondent No.1 Mr D.R.Kale, AGP for respondent No.2 CORAM : SMT.NISHITA MHATRE & M.T. JOSHI, JJ DATE : 5th May 2011 ORAL JUDGMENT (PER SMT. MHATRE, J.) 1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith, by consent. W.P.No.8181 of 2009 2 2. The petitioner’s grievance in the present petition is that the Caste Scrutiny Committee has invalidated his caste certificate without considering that the caste of the petitioner’s forefather was recorded as Koli Mahadeo – Scheduled Tribe in a charge sheet issued against the latter prior to 1950. 3. We have perused the impugned order and we find that the petitioner had produced a photocopy of the charge-sheet issued on the arrest of the petitioner’s great grandfather. The charge sheet is of the year 1938. The Vigilance Cell had considered this document and had sent the same for verification to the concerned Magistrate. On verification, the Vigilance Cell was informed by the concerned Magistrate that the document was genuine. In these circumstances, the petitioner contends that the Scrutiny Committee ought to have considered this document as it was a vital piece of evidence indicating that the petitioner belongs to the Koli Mahadeo – Scheduled Tribe. It is now well- settled that in cases before the Caste Scrutiny Committee, the documents which are genuine and old have greater probative value. Such documents ought to be given more weightage by the Scrutiny Committee while considering the caste or tribe claim of a candidate. W.P.No.8181 of 2009 3 4. In the instant case we find that although the Scrutiny Committee has noted that the document has been produced at Serial No.16, and it pertains to the petitioner’s forefather, it has not given any reasons for discarding this document. In fact, the Scrutiny Committee has concluded that the applicant has not produced any valuable proof or record prior to 1950 in support of his claim. This finding is utterly wrong. 5. In our opinion, it was necessary for the Scrutiny Committee to consider this document and to decide whether reliance could be placed on the same. Instead, the Scrutiny Committee has considered the document i.e. school admission registration extract issued in favour of petitioner’s paternal aunt indicating that she belongs to the Koli community. 6. In our opinion, the matter is required to be remanded to the Scrutiny Committee for a fresh decision. Accordingly, we pass the following order : (i) The impugned order passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee is set aside. (ii) The Scrutiny Committee will consider all documents filed by the petitioner including the document, which shows that the W.P.No.8181 of 2009 4 petitioner’s forefather is from the Koli Mahadeo – Scheduled Tribe. (iii) The Scrutiny Committee shall decide the petitioner’s tribe claim within six months from today. (iv) The petitioner shall appear before the Scrutiny Committee on 23rd May 2011. Rule made absolute accordingly. ( M.T. JOSHI, J.) ( SMT. NISHITA MHATRE, J.) (vvr/8181.09wp)