•^ IH TH3 HIGH COVKS OE-' H&DHT& ERADESH &S J&BALPUR W.P. No. U|0| //1995 PETITIOHERs :^ RESPONDEHTS Sudhakar Nandanwar Aged about 42 years S/o Shri Mohan Lal NaQdanwar R/o Mamta Nagar Behind Collectorate, Rajnandgaon (MP) •Versus- 'T. Dena Bank & body eorporate duly cons-titated under the Banking Companies (Acquisitj-on &nd Transfer of Undertakings), &ct, 1970, h aviag it• s Head Offiee at Maker Sowers, E-Cuffe, Parade, Bombay 400 005 Tbrough, it's Cbairmao The Assistant Geaeral Manager .Bena Bank, Kegional Office, Raipur (MP) Ibe Collector, Rajnaadgaon (HP) 2. v';-^3 • 1."- 'Ehe Birector, Scheduled 'Cribes Welfare Research and Bevelopment 35, Shimla Road, Bhopal (MP) Cenfere,'i &/5. State of Madhya Pradesh Through the Secretary Social Welfare Department, Vallabh Bhawaa, Bhopal (MP) ViRI'r PETITIQB UHDER SBSICIS 226 OP IHE coBS'riruTioH OF iioia --— i-a • HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR (Hon. IWr. Justice Pritinker Diwaker) Writ Petition No. 4017 of1995 PETITIQNER RESPONDENTS VERSUS Sudhakar Nandanwar Dena Bank Snd others / Shri Ashish Shrivastava counsel for the petitioner. Shri P.S. Koshy and Shri Vivek Verma Counsel for respondents 1 and 2. Shri Vaibhav Goverdhan counsel for respondents 3 to 5 WRIT PETIflON UNDER ARTICLES 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIAj ORDER (15.11.2010) Challenge in this writ petition is to the order dated 13.9.1995 (Annexure P-1) passed by the Collector, Rajnandgaon (respondent No. 3 herein) holdjng that the petitioner does not belong to scheduled tribe community as his caste is "Kosty" and that he has obtained the certificate showing himself to be belonging to "Halba" caste which comeswifhin the scheduled tribe category, by submitting a false affidavit before the Tehsildar. 2. Facts of thecase in brief are that the petitioner had joined the serviceS of the respondent No.1 as a clerical staff as a candidate of general category. On 9.5.1993 a decision was taken by respondent No.l/Bank to make promotiQns tothe post of Junior Management Grade, Scale-1 and in the examination for the same the petitiOner had appeared and claimed the benefit of his belongingto "Halba" caSte. Petitioner had alsosubmitted a castecertificate issued by the Tehsildar, Rajnandgaon (Annexure P-3). Fyrther case of the petitioner is that on 6.4.1993, respondent No.2 had issued a letter (Annexure P-4) infornjiing the petitioner that earlier in the application for recruitment he had declared his caste as "Kosty" and then while availing thebenefijt of promotion he claimed himself to be of "Halba" caste. Respondent|^o.2 also quesfioned the petitioner as to howhis caste had been GhEiNged from "Kosty" to "Halba", which was replied to by the petitionerj on ^' 1 1 t ///^ -z— 1.5.1993 vide Annexure P-5 saying that "Kosty" was his profession and "Halba" was his caste and there is no differenee between "Kosty" and "Halba". The petitioner placed reliance on the decisions of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh in M.P. No. 1456/1981 (Prabodh v. State of M.P. and others) and M.P. No. 3594/1985 (Bhojram Parate (Halba) v. State of M.P. and others) and submits that on the basis of these two decisions "Halba" and "Kosty" belong to "Haiba" or "Halbi" tribe. On 9.5.1993 examination for promotion to the Junior ManagementGrade Scale -I was held and the result was declared on 6.8.1993 in which the petitioner had secured 4 position in the merit list and thus he was entitled for promotion. According to the petitioner, for two years no order has been passed for promotion to the Junior Management Grade Scale 1 though he had made several repre&entations to the respondent/Bank. 3. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the order impugned dated 13.9.1995 (Ahnexure P-1) has been passed by the Collector without giving proper opportunity to the petitioner and without following the principles of natural justice. He submits that firstly "Kosty" and "Halba" are the sarne caste falling within scheduled tribe category and that "Kosty" is his profession with reference to weaving activity whereas "Halba" is a nomenclature given to his caste. He submits that irrespective of the fact whether at the time of initial appointment the petitioner had disclosed himself to be a candidate of general category, once the competentauthority has issued a certificate in his favour showing him to be of "Halba" caste, the petitioner is entitled to avail promotion to the Junior Management Grade Scale - 1 on the strength of his belonging to scheduled tribe community. Hesubmits that while passing the order impugned, the Collector has failed to follow the necessary prindplesof law particularly that of giving proper opportunity to the petitioner to present.his case and thus the order has been passed in complete violation of principlesof natural justice. He submits that the order impugned passed by the Collector is required to be quashed in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of Kymari Madhuri Patil and another v. Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development and others (1994) 6 SCC 241 andthat ofthis Court|idthe matter of Dinesh KumarBhagoria v. State of Chhattisgarh (WPC ^lslii!i-:i::;1:l^^!i{:^":?;?^^ /^. 3338/2007). He submits that case of Madhuri Patil (supra) was decided on 2.9.1994 whereas the order impugned has been passed by the Collector on 13.9.1995 which is without jurisdiction because it is only the High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee which is c'ompetent to adjudicate upon the authenticity of caste certificate issued by Tehsildar, SDM or any otherexecutive magistrate. He submits that the petitioner has no objection if the validity of the said caste certificate is decided by the said High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee after giving due opportunity to the petitioner and even to the respondents. 4. Denying the contention of the petitioner, it has been argued bythe State counsel asalso by the counsel for the resporident/Bank that the then State of Madhya Pradesh has issued the list under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) order 1950 showing "Halba" and "Halbi" as scheduled tribe whereas "Kosta" and "Kosti" (Dewangan) are included in the list of Other Backward Classes. It is argued that once by a separate list the "Halba, Halbi, Kosta and Kosti" have been defined, under no circumstances, Naib Tehsildar was competent to issue the certificate in respect ofthe petitioner showing him to be belonging to scheduled tribe community. It is argued that while passing the order impugned, Collector had given sufficient opportunity to present his case and therefore, the same is just, proper and strictly in accordance with law. 5. Heard counsel for the parties and perused the documents available on record. 6. After the judgment of theApex Court in the matter of Madhuri Patil (supra) it is clear that the validity of the caste certificate issued by the Naib Tehsildar, SDMor any executive magistrate can only be examined by the High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee and not by the Collector. On the basis of the documents filed by the parties, it is not clear that prior to passing of the order impugned, the Collector had minutely examined the matter or given proper opportunity to the petitioner to explain his case. Moreover, it is the High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee which should have decided the validityofttie caste certificate issued in favour ofthe petitioner bythe Naib Tehsildar.j .^' •<••:.•—'> <^i':"~ • '•'S^-r^r. -A- 7. All the parties agree that the matter can be referred to High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee which in turn shall decide the validity of the caste certificate dated 26.2.1993 issued by the Naib Tehsildar in favour of the petitioner. 8. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and without entering into the merits of the case whether petitioner is "Halba" by caste falling within the scheduled tribe category, this Court is of the considered opinion that the order impugned passed by the Collector is liable to be quashed. Accordingly, the petition is allowed. Order impugned dated 13.9.1995 passed by respondent No.3 is hereby quashed. Respondent No.3 is directed to immediately referthe case of the petitioner to High Power State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee within a period of one month from the date of receipt of copy of this orderwhich in turn shall decide the validity ofthe caste certificate issued in favour of the petitioner by the Naib Tehsildar within a further period of five months there-from. It is expected from the said committeeto give full opportunity of hearing to the petitioner as also to the respondents. Petitioner as well as respondents No. 1 and 2 shall be at liberty to approach the Collector for referring the matter to the said committee^ Sd/- Pritinker Diwaker Judge [^