( 1 ) WP 1533,1534,1535,1539,1540,1541/11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO. 1533 OF 2011 Rajendra s/o Daga Thakur, Aged 43 years, Occupation Service, Resident of 79 Bhagwatinagar Deopur, Dhule, District Dhule PETITIONER V E R S U S 1 The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Co Operative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 RESPONDENTS 2 The Committee for Scrutiny and Verifiction of Tribe Claims, Through its Dy. Director (Research), Nandurbar. 3 The Dhule & Nandurbar District Co-operative, Bank Ltd, Through its Chief Executive Officer, Dhule, District Dhule. WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 1534 OF 2011 Kashinath s/o Onkar Thakur, Aged 50 years, Occupation Service, Resident of 29, Ganesh Nagar, Behind Bhoi Society, Deopur, Dhule, District Dhule PETITIONER V E R S U S 1 The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Co Operative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 RESPONDENTS 2 The Committee for Scrutiny and Verifiction of Tribe Claims, Through its Dy. Director (Research), Nandurbar. ( 2 ) WP 1533,1534,1535,1539,1540,1541/11 3 The Dhule & Nandurbar District Co-operative, Bank Ltd, Through its Chief Executive Officer, Dhule, District Dhule. WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 1535 OF 2011 Nana s/o Dhondu Suryawanshi, Aged 43 years, Occupation Service, R/o At present Dhondicha, Taluka Shinkheda, District Dhule PETITIONER V E R S U S 1 The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Co Operative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 RESPONDENTS 2 The Committee for Scrutiny and Verifiction of Tribe Claims, Through its Dy. Director (Research), Nandurbar. 3 The Dhule & Nandurbar District Co-operative, Bank Ltd, Through its Chief Executive Officer, Dhule, District Dhule. WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 1539 OF 2011 Vinayak s/o Namdeorao Bagul, Aged 46 years, Occ. Service, R/o Ekata Nagar, Biladi Road, Deopur, Dhule, District Dhule PETITIONER V E R S U S 1 The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Co Operative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 RESPONDENTS 2 The Committee for Scrutiny and Verifiction of Tribe Claims, Through its Dy. Director (Research), Nandurbar. ( 3 ) WP 1533,1534,1535,1539,1540,1541/11 3 The Dhule & Nandurbar District Co-operative, Bank Ltd, Through its Chief Executive Officer, Dhule, District Dhule. WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 1540 OF 2011 Anant s/o Madan Thakur, Aged 39 years, Occ. Service, R/o 3 A, Bhavsar Colony, Near FCI Godam, Jamnagiri Road, Dhule, District Dhule PETITIONER V E R S U S 1 The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Co Operative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 RESPONDENTS 2 The Committee for Scrutiny and Verifiction of Tribe Claims, Through its Dy. Director (Research), Nandurbar. 3 The Dhule & Nandurbar District Co-operative, Bank Ltd, Through its Chief Executive Officer, Dhule, District Dhule. WITH WRIT PETITION NO. 1541 OF 2011 Kalpanabai d/o Ananda Thakur, @ Alia Kalpanabai w/o Komalsing Suryanwanshi, Age 35 years, Occ. Service, R/o Sant Gadgebaba Colony, Plot No. 6A, Deopur, Dhule, District Dhule PETITIONER V E R S U S 1 The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Co Operative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 RESPONDENTS 2 The Committee for Scrutiny and Verifiction of Tribe Claims, Through its Dy. Director (Research), Nandurbar. ( 4 ) WP 1533,1534,1535,1539,1540,1541/11 3 The Dhule & Nandurbar District Co-operative, Bank Ltd, Through its Chief Executive Officer, Dhule, District Dhule. Shri A.H. Koralkar, Advocate for the petitioners Shri V.D. Godbharle, AGP for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition Nos. 1533/11 & 1540/11 Shri B.V. Wagh, AGP for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition No. 1534/11 & 1541/11 Shri S.K. Kadam, AGP for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition No. 1535/11 Smt A.G. Gondhalekar, AGP for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition No. 1539/11 Shri R.P. Phatke, Standing Counsel for respondent No. 2 in all petitions Shri S.S. Patil, Advocate for respondent No. 3 in all petitions CORAM : D.B. BHOSALE & A.V. NIRGUDE,JJ. DATED : 7th March, 2011 ORAL JUDGMENT : (Per D.B. BHOSALE, J.) 1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent of the parties, heard for final disposal at the stage of admission. Shri V.D. Godbharle, AGP waives notice for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition Nos. 1533/11 & 1540/11, Shri B.V. Wagh, AGP waives notice for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition No. 1534/11 & 1541/11, Shri S.K. Kadam, AGP waives notice for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition No. 1535/11 and Smt. A.G. Gondhalekar, AGP waives notice for respondent No. 1 / State in Writ Petition No. 1539/11. Shri R.P. Phatke, Standing Counsel waives notice for respondent No. 2 in all petitions. Shri S.S. Patil, Advocate waives notice for respondent No. 3 in all petitions. 2. In this group of writ petitions, all the petitioners have received notice dated ( 5 ) WP 1533,1534,1535,1539,1540,1541/11 17th February, 2011, issued by respondent No.2, informing them that if they do not get their Caste Claims decided by the Scrutiny Committee, on or before 28th February, 2011, their services would be terminated without further notice. There is no dispute that the Caste Certificates of all the petitioners are forwarded to respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee in August, 2010. Till this date, the Scrutiny Committee has not decided validity of the Caste Certificates of the petitioners. In view thereof, the petitioners have also prayed for direction to respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee to decide their Caste claim within time frame. Having considered overall facts and circumstances of the case, we are satisfied that these writ petitions can be conveniently disposed of by the following order : ORDER a) Respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee shall decide Caste Claims of the petitioners as expeditiously as possible and preferably within a period of one year from today. b) Learned Counsel for respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee is directed to communicate this order to the Scrutiny Committee within a period of two weeks from today. c) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Caste claim of the petitioners before respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee, respondent No. 3 shall not terminate their services, pursuant to the notice dated 17th February, 2011, issued to the petitioners. d) If the orders passed by the Scrutiny Committee are adverse to the petitioners, same shall remain stayed for a period of 15 days from the date of the order. ( 6 ) WP 1533,1534,1535,1539,1540,1541/11 e) It is open to respondent No. 3 – Bank to take appropriate action, if Caste Certificates of the petitioners are invalidated by respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee. f) Rule is accordingly disposed of in terms of this order. No order as to costs. ( A. V. NIRGUDE,J. ) ( D.B. BHOSALE,J. ) SRM/