vss IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.68 OF 2008 WRIT PETITION NO.68 OF 2008 WRIT PETITION NO.68 OF 2008 Dilip Baburao Koli ... Petitioner V/s. State of Maharashtra & ors. ... Respondents Ms.h.K. Mandlik for Petitioner Mr.V.S. Masurkar, Govt. Pleader, for Respondent Nos.2 & 4 CORAM: J.N. PATEL & J.N. PATEL & J.N. PATEL & SMT.NISHITA SMT.NISHITA SMT.NISHITA MHATRE, JJ. MHATRE, JJ. MHATRE, JJ. DATED: MARCH 12, 2008 MARCH 12, 2008 MARCH 12, 2008 P.C.: P.C.: P.C.: . Heard. The petitioner who is working as a Superintendent with Kolhapur Municipal Corporation has impugned the order passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Pune on 30.10.2007 which invalidated the caste certificate of the petitioner. 2. The petitioner claims that he belongs to caste Koli Mahadev which is notified as a scheduled tribe. The petitioner who initially joined as a Peon on the basis of his caste claim, has been promoted as a Superintendent. The Caste Scrutiny Committee examined the caste claim of the petitioner and report from the vigilance cell was obtained. The vigilance officer submitted his report on 19.9.2002 to the committee of which due notice was given to the petitioner. In the : 2 : enquiry, the officer has obtained the school record in respect of applicant’s paternal blood relatives which are referred in para 3 of the impugned order. The caste of all the paternal relatives is shown as Koli or Hindu Koli. The petitioner was also given an opportunity to submit his say as provided under clause 12(a) of the Maharashtra Act No.23 of 2001. The petitioner contended that the caste came to be wrongly recorded as Hindu Koli in primary school which he has got changed to Mahadev Koli and stated about the customs, social traits, etc. in order to show his affinity to caste Mahadev Koli. The caste scrutiny committee found that the petitioner does not belong to the caste Mahadev Koli but he is Koli by caste and invalidated his caste certificate on the basis of documents procured in the vigilance enquiry and the information furnished by the petitioner which came to be recorded on 21.1.2002 at the time of enquiry where he has stated that "Our Kuldaivat is Mahadev and we worship all Hindu gods. Traditional festival of our community is Holi. Surnames of our relatives are Palampalle, Pichad, Sable, Asawale, Patkar, etc." We, therefore, find the caste scrutiny committee has arrived at a finding that the petitioner does not belong to the caste Mahadev Koli on the basis of documents and by applying the affinity test which is borne out from the record. Therefore, we do not find that the decision of the caste scrutiny committee suffers from error or : 3 : illegality. Therefore, the petition is dismissed. 4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is eligible for protection of service in view of the Government Resolution dated 15.6.1995 as he is in employment prior to the date of issuance of the Government Resolution. It will be open for the petitioner to apply to his employer for protection of his service in the light of the aforesaid Government Resolution. (J.N. PATEL, J.) (SMT.NISHITA MHATRE, J.)