1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO.579 OF 2010 Ashish s/o Annulal Shukla, Age: 23 years, Occ: Education, R/o. Behind Head Post Office, Juna Bazar, Navi Vasti, Aurangabad. .. Petitioner Versus 1. The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32. 2. Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad. 3. The Sub Divisional Officer, Aurangabad, Dist.Aurangabad... Respondents ... Mr. A.D. Pawar, Advocate for petitioner. Mrs. A.V. Gondhalekar, A.G.P. for respondent Nos. 1 and 3. Mr. P.S. Patil, Advocate for respondent No.2. ... CORAM : A.M. KHANWILKAR & S.S. SHINDE, JJ. DATE : 3RD FEBRUARY, 2010 2 PER COURT : Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of learned Counsel for the parties, the petition is taken up for final hearing at admission stage. 2. This petition takes exception to the order passed by the Sub Divisional Officer dated 20-08-2009 as well as the order of the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad dated 23-11-2009 whereby the petitioner's application for issuance of the caste certificate as belonging to "Mannewar" Scheduled Tribe, came to be rejected. The Sub Divisional Officer discarded the documents pertaining to real sister, real uncle and cousin brother of the petitioner. Ordinarily, since the certificate of close blood relations such as real sister was being relied in support of the claim, the question of refusing to issue caste certificate does not arise. Even the Committee 3 before whom the appeal was filed by the petitioner, rejected the claim of the petitioner by a general sweeping statement made in the impugned order that the conclusion reached by the Sub Divisional Officer is satisfactory. 3. We have come across the similar stereo type orders passed by the Committee without considering the nature of the documents which were pressed into service. The Committee should be more careful in future and is expected to record the reasons for rejection of the documents pressed into service which position has now been re-stated by this Court on several occasions. Useful reference in this regard can be made to the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the matter of Pashamiya s/o Khajamiya Attar vs. State of Maharashtra and others, reported in 2008(3) Mh.L.J. 149 ( P.V. Hardas and S.P. Kukday, JJ.). It is repeatedly observed that the Committee, while rejecting the 4 appeal against the order passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, rejects the application for issuance of the caste certificate merely observing that the opinion of the Sub Divisional Officer is satisfactory. Such approach cannot be countenanced and would not stand the test of the judicial scrutiny. 4. In the circumstances, the impugned decisions are set aside. Instead Rule is made absolute in terms of prayer clause (B) & (C) which read thus : "(B) To quash and set aside, the order dated 20.08.2009 passed by the Learned Sub Divisional Officer, Aurangabad thereby rejected the application filed by petitioners for issuance of caste certificate as belongs to "Mannewar Schedule Tribe" and order dated 23.11.2009 passed by the Schedule Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad thereby rejected the appeal filed by the petitioner by issuing writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ or direction as 5 the case may be; (C) To direct respondent No. 3 to entertain the application of petitioner afresh and decide it within preferable time by issuing writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or directions as the case may be." 5. The Sub Divisional Officer shall reconsider the application of the petitioner in terms of this order expeditiously and in any case, finally dispose of the same, not later than FOUR WEEKS from today and inform the decision to the petitioner within TWO WEEKS from the date of the order. 6. The petition is disposed of accordingly. Rule made absolute in above terms. ( S.S. SHINDE, J. ) ( A.M. KHANWILKAR, J.) sut/FEB10/wp579.10