(1) IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, AURANGABAD BENCH, AT AURANGABAD. WRIT PETITION NO. 11359 OF 2010 Pradip s/o. Balasaheb Akoskar, Age : 22 years, Occupation : Education, R/o. Kolewadi, Taluka & District : Osmanabad. .. Petitioner. versus 1. The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai-32. 2. The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad, Through its Deputy Director (R), Aurangabad. 3. The Sub-Divisional Officer, Osmanabad, Taluka & District : Osmanabad. .. Respondents. ....................... (2) Mr. P.V. Jadhavar, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. V.H. Dighe, Assistant Government Pleader, for respondent nos.1 and 3. Mr. R.P. Phatke, Assistant Government Pleader, for respondent no.2. ........................ CORAM : B.R. GAVAI & R.M. BORDE, JJ. DATE : 15TH DECEMBER 2010 ORAL JUDGMENT (Per R.M. Borde, J.) : 1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith with the consent of parties. 2. An application tendered by the petitioner, for issuance of caste certificate, has been turned down by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Osmanabad, vide order dated 30th April 2010, and the appeal tendered against the rejection of the request, has also been turned down by the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad, vide order dated 10th August 2010. (3) 3. The petitioner claims to be belonging to "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe. In order to substantiate his claim, the petitioner has placed reliance on the school record wherein entry in respect of his caste is recorded as "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe. Apart from this, the petitioner has also tendered copy of certificate issued in favour of his father, dated 15-2-1980, certifying that his father belongs to "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe. The petitioner has also pointed out that a validity certificate has been issued in favour of his cousin brother, namely, Vikas, certifying therein that his cousin brother belongs to "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe, by the Scrutiny Committee. Apart from these aspects, the Circle Inspector, who conducted the local inspection, has also reported that the petitioner prima facie appears to be belonging to "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe. In this view of the matter, the Sub-Divisional Officer ought to have considered the request in respect of issuance of caste certificate in favour of the petitioner favourably. 4. It is recorded in several judgments delivered by this Court, that the considerations for issuance of caste certificate differ from the parameters which are required to be applied while issuing the validity certificate by the Scrutiny Committee. At the stage of issuance of caste certificate, only prima facie material is required to be scrutinized, as the caste certificate is amenable to (4) further scrutiny at the stage of issuance of validity certificate. 5. In this view of the matter, the Writ Petition deserves to be allowed and the same is accordingly allowed. (i) The impugned order dated 30th April 2010, passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Osmanabad, thereby refusing to issue caste certificate in favour of the petitioner, as well as, the order dated 10th August 2010, passed by the Scrutiny Committee, thereby rejecting the appeal, are quashed and set aside. (ii) The respondent no.3 is directed to issue caste certificate in the prescribed form, in favour of the petitioner, within a period of four weeks from today. (iii) However, it is made clear that the observations made herein above are only for the purposes of considering the claim of the petitioner for grant of caste (tribe) certificate and that the Committee shall not be influenced by the same at the stage of considering the claim of the petitioner for grant of caste (tribe) validity certificate. It would be open for the Scrutiny Committee to consider the matter on its own merits. (5) 6. Rule made absolute accordingly. In the circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to costs. ( R.M. BORDE ) ( B.R. GAVAI ) JUDGE JUDGE ......................... bgp/wp11359