1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO. 5176 OF 2002 Damodhar S/o Tulshiram Sonwane, Age : 29 Years, Occu. : Services as Clerk, M. S. R. T. C., Nashik Region, Nashik. .. .. Petitioners Versus 1. The State of Maharashtra 2. Member Secretary, Committee for Scrutiny and Verification of Tribe Claim, Aurangabad Region, Aurangabad. 3. Divisional Controller, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, Nashik Division, Nashik. .. .. Respondents Shri Y. R. Barhate, Advocate for the Applicant. Shri K. J. Ghute Patil, A.G.P. for the Respondent No. 1. Shri P. S. Patil, Standing Counsel for the Respondent No. 2. The Respondent No. 3 is served. CORAM : P. V. HARDAS AND N. D. DESHPANDE, JJ. DATE : 19TH JULY, 2010. 2 ORAL JUDGMENT [Per P. V. HARDAS, J. ] : . Rule. Rule returnable forthwith. With the consent of learned counsel for parties this petition is heard finally at the stage of admission. 2. By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner prays for quashing and setting aside the decision dated 11.09.2002 rendered by the Scrutiny Committee invalidating caste claim of the petitioner. 3. It appears that, the petitioner who claimed to be belonging to "Mana" Scheduled Tribe applied for verification of his tribe claim as he has been selected for recruitment against a seat reserved, of belonging to "Mana" Scheduled Tribe. The petitioner tendered sufficient documents in support of his claim. At this juncture it is necessary to advert to the documents submitted by the petitioner. The claim of the petitioner came to be rejected/invalidated by the respondent No. 3/Scrutiny Committee on the ground that the petitioner has failed to prove his affinity with the 'Gond Tribe'. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon the 3 judgment of Supreme Court State of Maharashtra and others vs. Mana Adim Jamat Mandal reported in 2003 (3) Mh. L. J. 407. The Supreme Court in uncertain terms has held that, " Mana" is not a sub tribe of "Gond", but it is a separate tribe by itself. In the light of said judgment, according to us, the order of the Scrutiny Committee invalidating the tribe claim of the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner has failed to establish his affinity with the "Gond" is unsustainable and deserves to be quashed and set aside. 5. Resultantly this petition is allowed and the impugned order is quashed and set aside and the matter is remitted back to the Scrutiny Committee for decision afresh, in accordance with law. The petitioner shall appear before the Scrutiny Committee on 10th August, 2010 and the Scrutiny Committee shall endeavour to decide the tribe claim of the petitioner within six months of 10th August, 2010. 6. Rule is thus made absolute on the above said terms with no order as to costs. [ N. D. DESHPANDE, J.] [ P. V. HARDAS, J.] bsb/July 10 4