1 FARAD CONTINUATION SHEET IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY BENCH AT NAGPUR WRIT PETITION NO: 647/2009 (Dr.Amal s/o Satishchandra Poddar vs. State of Maharashtra and others ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Office Notes, Office Memorandum of Coram Court's or Judges Order appearances, Court's orders of directions & Registrar's orders. ................................................................................................................................... CORAM: D.D.SINHA & A. P. BHANGALE , JJ. DATED: 24th March, 2009. *** Heard Mr M M Sudame, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr S J Jichkar, learned AGP for Respondent nos.1 & 2 and Mr. S K Mishra, learned Asst. Solicitor General of India, for Respondent No.3. 2. This Writ Petition is directed against the impugned communication dated 12.11.2008 whereby the Respondent No.2 -Scrutiny Committee has informed he petitioner that his caste claim as belonging to “Namasudra” Scheduled Caste (SC) cannot be verified since the said caste is not included in the category of Scheduled Castes for the State of Maharashtra. Learned counsel for the petitioner is placing reliance on the Government 2 Resolution dated 3rd July, 1976 as well as the document which is annexed with the Petition as Annexure VI for substantiating his claim. It is contended that in view of the said resolution, the Competent Authority has issued the caste certificate in favour of the petitioner as belonging to 'Namasudra' caste and, therefore, the petitioner applied for verification and grant of validity to the Scrutiny committee. It is contended that the said caste is included in the category of Scheduled Castes in the State of West Bengal and, therefore, the Scrutiny Committee ought to have considered this aspect and carried out verification. 3. Mr. S J Jichkar, learned AGP for Respondents 1 and 2 has submitted that since the caste of the petitioner is not included in the SC category in the State of Maharashtra, the Scrutiny Committee has no jurisdiction to carry out verification proceedings and grant validity certificate. 4. We have considered the contentions canvassed by the respective counsel. It is well- settled that the Scrutiny Committee is entitled to verify the caste claims of such candidates whose castes are included in the respective categories, such as, SC,ST, VJ, NT etc. In the instant case, it is not in dispute that 'Namasudra' caste is not 3 included in Scheduled Castes category. In that view of the matter, the communication issued by Scrutiny Committee, in our view, is sustainable in law. Consequently, no case is made out for showing indulgence, Writ Petition is dismissed. JUDGE JUDGE sahare