1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.3365 OF 2007 Priti Prakash Suryawanshi. ...Petitioner. vs. 1.The State of Maharashtra & ors. ...Respondents. --- Mr.R.K.Mendadkar, for Petitioner. Mr.V.A.Gangal, Special Counsel @ Mr.S.S.Deshmukh, Mr.Ashok Gade & Mr.C.R.Sonawane, AGP for Respondents. CORAM: D.K.DESHMUKH & K.K.TATED, JJ. DATED: 5th December,2009 P.C.:- 1. The petitioner by this petition challenges the order dated 5.3.2007 passed by the Scrutiny committee holding that the caste claim of the petitioner that she belongs to Thakur Scheduled Tribe, is not valid. 2 2. We have heard the learned Counsel appearing for both the sides. We have gone through the record. We find that the Scrutiny committee has found that the caste of the petitioner is Thakur but applying the affinity test it cannot be said that the case of the petitioner is Thakur Scheduled Tribe. So far as this Court is concerned, the law is now settled by the judgment of the Full Bench in the case Shilpa Vishnu Thakur Vs. State of Maharashtra & ors., 2009(3) Bom.C.R. 497 that the affinity test can be applied by the Scrutiny Committee while inquiring into the caste claim of the candidate. The learned Counsel appearing for petitioner submits that once when the matter was remanded by this Court, a report of Vigilance Cell was called for and the report of Vigilance Cell is that the petitioner belongs to Adivasi Thakur . The submission of the learned Counsel, therefore, applying the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case in Kumari Madhuri Patil Vs. Addl.Commissioner, Tribal Dept., 1994(6) SCC 241 is that a show cause notice should have been given to the petitioner to show cause 3 as to why the Scrutiny Committee disagrees with the report of the Vigilance cell. To examine the correctness of this submission, we have gone through the Vigilance cell report. That is the report of Inspector of Police Mr.Joshi which is dated 20.11.2006. Perusal of that report shows that he has nowhere concluded that the petitioner s caste is Thakur Scheduled Tribe. It appears that an endorsement has been made by the Joint Commissioner of Police on the report of P.I. Mr.Joshi wherein it is observed that Mr.Joshi in his report after considering the geographical and topographical including sociological background has concluded that the petitioner belongs to Adivasi Thakur . But that is not the report of the Vigilance Cell. That is merely an endorsement made and that endorsement is factually wrong because P.I. Mr.Joshi nowhere in the report has reached the conclusion that the petitioner belongs to Adivasi Thakur . P.I.Mr.Joshi merely placed the evidence collected by him before the Committee. In our opinion, therefore, the entire material on record was considered by the Scrutiny Committee in its proper 4 perspective and the conclusion reached by it after applying affinity test cannot be faulted. The petition is, therefore, rejected. (D.K.DESHMUKH, J.) (K.K.TATED, J.)