1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR WRIT PETITION NO.5445 OF 2010 (Ku. Madhuri Rupsingh Bagadi vs. The Commissioner, Amravati Division and others) __________________________________________________________________ Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders Court's or Judge's orders or directions and Registrar's orders. CORAM : D.D. SINHA AND A.P. BHANGALE, JJ. DATED : JANUARY 20, 2011 Heard Shri Narnaware, learned Counsel for the petitioner, and Ms. Deshpande, learned Assistant Government Pleader for the respondents. In the present petition, the grievance of the petitioner is in respect of order of termination of her service as Stenographer issued by the respondent no.2 for want of submission of caste validity certificate. Shri Narnaware, learned Counsel for the petitioner, states that the petitioner was appointed as Stenographer in the year 2008 and thereafter on 2 22/10/2010 the petitioner submitted her caste certificate and other documents in support of the same to respondent nos. 2 and 3 to be forwarded to the Caste Scrutiny Committee for verification of her caste claim as belonging to Rajput Bhamta (Nomadic Tribe). It is submitted that the respondent no.3 without waiting for verification proceedings to be completed, issued the impugned order of termination, which is bad in law. It is contended that once caste certificate and relevant documents are submitted by the employee to the employer, it is the duty of the employer to get the caste certificate verified by the Caste Scrutiny Committee and it is not the responsibility of the employee. It is, therefore, submitted that the impugned order of termination is bad in law and same needs to be set aside. Ms. Deshpande, learned Assistant Government Pleader for the respondents, states that the petitioner, after given appointment in the year 2008 from the reserved category, failed to submit caste certificate and documents in support thereof, within the reasonable time to the respondent no.2. It 3 is contended that the petitioner for the first time, submitted caste certificate along with documents in support thereof to the respondent no.2 after more than two years, i.e. on 22/10/2010, which were received on 10/11/2010. It is submitted that since petitioner did not submit caste validity certificate for a considerable period of time after obtaining appointment from the reserved category, the respondent no.2 had no option, but to issue order of termination for want of submission of caste validity certificate. We have considered the contentions canvassed by the learned Counsel for the parties. It is no doubt true that if a candidate, who is appointed from the reserved category, submits the caste certificate along with documents in support thereof to the employer, it is the duty of the employer to refer the same to the Caste Scrutiny Committee for verification and the employee after submission of the documents is in no way connected with the same. However, it is obligatory on the part of the employee, who has secured employment from the reserved category, to submit documents immediately 4 after order of appointment is issued to him/her or within a reasonable time. In the instant case, appointment was secured by the petitioner from the Nomadic Tribe category in the year 2008. However, the petitioner did not submit caste certificate and documents in support thereof till 10/11/2010 though she claims that the caste certificate was submitted by her at the time of initial appointment. The inordinate delay caused by the petitioner in submitting documents to the respondent no.2 after securing appointment from the reserved category, in our view, proved fatal to her. It is not expected from the employer to wait perpetually for the employee, who has secured employment from the reserved category, to submit documents. It is the duty of the employee to submit caste certificate and all the relevant documents in support of caste claim to the employer within a reasonable time. However, in the instant case, the situation is otherwise and, therefore, no case is made out for showing indulgence. Since caste claim of the petitioner has not been verified by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, in the interest of justice, we direct the 5 respondent no.2 to forward the caste certificate of the petitioner along with documents submitted by her in support thereof to the concerned Caste Scrutiny Committee for verification within a period of three weeks from today. We expect the concerned Caste Scrutiny Committee to verify the caste claim of the petitioner in accordance with law and procedure applicable in this regard within a period of six months from the date of receipt of documents from the respondent no.2. If the caste claim of the petitioner is validated by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, it is open for the petitioner to approach the respondent no.2 for necessary action. With these observations and directions, the petition is disposed of. JUDGE JUDGE khj