1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD. WRIT PETITION NO. 3213 OF 2010 Shreelaxmi S/o Mutenna Lakhmawad Age Minor, Occu. Education, Through Natural Guardian /Father Mutenna S/o Poshetti Lakhmawad Age 45 years, Occu. Service, R/o Ratnali, Tq. Dharmabad, Dist. Nanded. .. PETITIONER. VERSUS 1) The State of Maharashtra, Through It’s Secretary Tribal Development Department,Mantralaya, Mumbai-32. 2) The Scheduled Certificate Scrutiny Committee,Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad, through its Dy. Director (R), Aurangabad. 3) The Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor, Tq. Degloor, Dist. Nanded. RESPONDENTS. ... Shri P.V. Jadhavar, Advocate for Petitioner. Shri S.K. Tambe, A.G.P. for respondent Nos. 1 & 3. Shri P.S. Patil, Advocate for respondent No. 2. CORAM : P.V. HARDAS AND S.V. GANGAPURWALA, JJ. DATE : 16th April, 2010. 2 ORAL JUDGMENT: (Per S.V. GANGAPURWALA,J.) 1. Rule. Rule returnable forthwith. With the consent of the learned counsels for the parties, the petition is taken up for final hearing at the stage of admission. 2. The Petitioner vide the present Writ Petition, impugns the order of the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor dated 16/09/2009 and the order dated 30/01/2010 passed by the Scrutiny Committee in appeal, confirming the order of the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor rejecting the application of the petitioner for issuance of a caste certificate as belonging to ‘Mannerwarlu- Scheduled Tribe’. 3. The petitioner, who was desirous of obtaining caste certificate as belonging to ‘Mannerwarlu-Scheduled Tribe’, as such had applied to the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor. The petitioner relied upon the caste certificate issued in favour of his father as belonging to ‘Mannerwarlu-Scheduled Tribe’. The Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor rejected the application of the 3 petitioner on the count that in the school record of the father of the petitioner , the caste is mentioned as ‘Manurwad’. The Scrutiny Committee while dealing with the appeal has not given any independent reasoning, simply stated that it agreed with the decision taken by the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor. 4. In our considered opinion, the reasoning adopted by the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor is wholly unsustainable. When the father of the petitioner has already been issued caste certificate belonging to ‘Mannerwarlu-Scheduled Tribe’, it was not open for the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor to comment on the school record of the father of the petitioner. As father has already been issued caste certificate, son deserves to be issued the caste certificate of the same caste. 5. In the result, we set aside the judgment and order passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor, dated 16/09/2009 and the order of the Scrutiny Committee dated 30/01/2010. 4 6. We hereby direct the Sub Divisional Officer, Degloor to forthwith issue caste certificate to the petitioner as belonging to ‘Mannerwarlu-Scheduled Tribe’. 7. Rule is thus made absolute in the above terms with no order as to costs. [S.V. GANGAPURWALA, J ] [ P.V. HARDAS, J ] SDM* WP3213.10(J) 5