IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY FIFTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN WRIT PETITION NO : 6526 of 2004 Between: 1 Ganta Venkata Jagadeswara Rao, S/o. Appanna, Hindu, R/o. G.L. Puram, of Vizianagaram District. 2 Ganta Kesava Rao, S/o. Appanna, Hindu, R/o. G.L. Puram, of Vizianagaram District. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Kurupam Mandal, Kurupam, Vizianagaram District. 2 The Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Tribal Welfare Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to to issue Writ, order or direction, particularly a Writ in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring that the inaction on the part of the respondents 1 and 2 herein in not issuing the caste certificate to the petitioners herein as belonging to "Pydi" caste which is a schedule tribe as unconstitutional and illegal and further direct the respondents 1 and 2 herein to issue caste certificates to the petitioners herein respectively as belonging to "Pydi" caste which is a Schedule Tribe and to pass Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.M.SUBBAIAH SASTRY Counsel for the Respondent : GP FOR SOCIAL WELFARE FOR R1,2 The Court made the following Order: Petitioners request, for being given the scheduled tribe certificate claiming to belong to “Pydi” tribe, was negatived by the respondents holding that “Pydi” falls under the scheduled caste and not under the scheduled tribe. Sri M.Subbaiah Sastry, learned counsel for the petitioners, would place reliance on the Presidential Order dated 06-09-1950 wherein, in part-V of the schedule relating to Madras, at Sl.No.35, the following tribes are included as scheduled tribes. “Porjas-Bodo Bonda, Dar Didua, Jodia, Mundili, Penugu, Pdyi and Saliya”. Consequent upon reorganization of the States, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1956 (Act 63 of 1956), was made and the schedule to the Presidential Order was amended. In the list of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, under the amendment Act of 1956, “Pydi” is included in the list of scheduled castes, for Andhra Area. It is only this order, as amended by Act 63 of 1956, which would apply thereafter and not the schedule prior thereto relating to the State of Madras. In the 1956 amendment Act, “Pydi” is listed at Entry II of the list of scheduled castes in Part-I of Andhra Area, and as such the petitioners claim for being treated as scheduled tribe was rightly negatived by the authorities concerned. Sri M.Subbaiah Sastry, learned counsel for the petitioner, would, however, contend that “Pydi” is merely a sub-sect of “Porja”, which is listed in the list of scheduled tribes under Part-V of the Presidential Order and since “Pydi” and “Porja” are synonymous, the petitioner ought to have been treated as a scheduled tribe and not as a scheduled caste. It is well settled that it is not for this Court, in proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to go into the question of equivalence of the caste/tribes mentioned in the Presidential Order and the amendment Acts issued thereto. It is only if the caste/tribe is specifically found in the list of scheduled castes or the scheduled tribes, can the person belonging to the particular caste or tribe claim to be entitled to the scheduled caste or scheduled tribe certificate. If, indeed, the petitioners contention that “Pydi” is equivalent to “Porja” has any basis, it is always open for them to approach the competent authority under the Andhra Pradesh (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes &Backward Classes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1993, and satisfy the authorities concerned of the equivalence. Subject to the above observations, the writ petition is dismissed. No order as to costs. ______________ 25-02-2008 usd ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Kurupam Mandal, Kurupam, Vizianagaram District. 2 The Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Tribal Welfare Department, Secretariat Buildings, Hyderabad. 3 Two CCs to GP for Social Welfare, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 4 Two CD copies. Form-NIC-OGS/WP{SPJS}