/ 1/ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.444 OF 2004 Amogsiddha Lakappa Birajdar ....Petitioner V/s. Chief Administrative Officer, Zilla Parishad, Solapur, & Anr. ....Respondents Mr.P.B. Shah for the Petitioner. Mr.Nitin Jamdar for the Respondent No.1. Mr.R.M. Patne, AGP for the Respondent No.2. CORAM : D.K. DESHMUKH & V.M. KANADE, JJ. DATED : 24th MARCH, 2008 P.C.:- 1. By this Writ Petition, the Petitioner is seeking following reliefs:- “(a) Rule be issued; (b) this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue appropriate writ order or direction calling for / 2/ the record in respect of appointment and termination of the Petitioner from Respondent No.1. (c) this Hon'ble Court after going through the legality and propriety of the Order terminating the services of the Petitioner dated 20/12/2003 annexed at Exhibit-C and Order relieving the Petitioner from service dated 23/12/2003 at Exhibit- D, quash and set aside the same. (d) Order passed by the Committee for Scrutiny and Verification of Tribe Claims, Pune dated 28/10/1999 may be quashed and set aside. (e) That pending the hearing and final disposal of this Petition, the Order terminating the services of the Petitioner dated 20/12/2003 annexed at Exhibit-C and Order relieving the Petitioner from service dated 23/12/2003 at Exhibit-D be stayed. / 3/ (f) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Petition Respondent No.1 be directed to take back the Petitioner in service from 20/12/2003. (g) For ad-interim and interim reliefs in terms of prayer clause(c) and (d). (h) For such other and further reliefs in the nature and circumstances of the case may require be granted.” 2. Brief facts, in nutshell, are as under:- The Petitioner was appointed as Primary Teacher after he was selected by the District Selection Board, Solapur. The Chief Administrative Officer issued a letter dated 13/03/1996 appointing the Petitioner as Primary Teacher subject to certain terms and conditions mentioned in the appointment order. The Petitioner was appointed in the Scheduled Caste category as he claimed to belong to the Mahadeo-Koli caste. The Petitioner's caste certificate was forwarded to the Caste Scrutiny Committee. The Caste Scrutiny Committee by its order dated 28/10/1999 invalidated the caste certificate issued in favour of the Petitioner. / 4/ Services of the Petitioner, therefore, were terminated on 20/12/2003 since his caste claim was invalided and the post on which he was appointed was reserved for Scheduled Caste category candidate. Being aggrieved by the order of termination, the Petitioner has preferred this Writ Petition. 3. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the Petitioner that the Petitioner has completed six years of continuous service as Primary Teacher and as such, the Respondent No.1 had erred in terminating the services of the Petitioner though a direction was given by the Respondent No.2 to continue the services of the Petitioner on an undertaking being given that the Petitioner and his children would not claim to belong to the Schedule Caste. 4. The Respondents, on the other hand, invited my attention to the recent judgment of the Apex Court, dated 15/02/2008 wherein it has been held that when a person secures appointment on the basis of false caste certificate, he cannot be allowed to retain the benefit of the wrong committed by him and his services are liable to be terminated. In the said case, reliance was placed by the Petitioner on the judgment in the case of State of Maharashtra V/s. Milind reported in 2001 (1) SCC 4. It was contended that in view of the observation made in Milind's case, the Petitioner was entitled to get protection of his service. Three Judge Bench of the Apex Court / 5/ (CJI K.G. Balakrishnan, C.K. Thakker & R.V. Raveendran) referring the judgment in the case of Bank of India V/s. Avinash D. Mandivikar, reported in (2005) 7 SCC 690 and Additional General Manager Human Resporces, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. V/s. Suresh Ramkrishna Burde reported in 2007(5) SCC 336 distinguished the judgment in Milind's case and reiterated the judgment in the case of Additional General Manager Human Resorces, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. V/s. Suresh Ramkrishna Burde(supra). 5. After having heard the learned counsel for the Petitioner and the learned counsel for the Respondents, in our opinion, Three Judge Bench of the Apex Court has finally concluded the issue in respect of question whether a person whose caste validity certificate is invalidated, can seek protection of his service. 6. Earlier in the case of State of Maharashtra & Ors. V/s. Sanjay K. Nimje, reported in 2007(2) Bom.C.R.787 and in the case of Punjab National Bank V/s. Vilas, reported in 2007(3) Mh.L.J. 805, Two Judge Bench of the Apex Court had expressed different opinion on this subject. However, subsequently thereafter, Three Judge Bench has given its decision / 6/ on the said point and therefore, ratio of the Three Judge judgment will have to be followed. It is an admitted position that claim of the Petitioner has been invalidated by the Caste Scrutiny Committee and therefore, his services, in our opinion, were rightly terminated by the Respondents. There is no substance in the submissions made by the Petitioner. Writ Petition is dismissed. Rule is discharged. In the circumstances, there shall be no order as to costs. ( D.K. DESHMUKH, J.) (V.M. KANADE, J.)