1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 4321 OF 2008 WRIT PETITION NO. 4321 OF 2008 WRIT PETITION NO. 4321 OF 2008 Deepa V. Gumal. .. Petitioner. vs. Union of India & Ors. .. Respondents. Smt. Helen Koli Mandlik i/by Mr. R.K. Mendadkar for the petitioner. Mr. A.H. Palekar, AGP., for Respondent Nos.1,2 & 4. Mr. S.J. Rairkar for Respondent No.3. CORAM: J.N. PATEL, & CORAM: J.N. PATEL, & CORAM: J.N. PATEL, & Smt. MRIDULA BHATKAR, JJ. Smt. MRIDULA BHATKAR, JJ. Smt. MRIDULA BHATKAR, JJ. DATE: 21ST APRIL, 2009. DATE: 21ST APRIL, 2009. DATE: 21ST APRIL, 2009. P.C. . The learned counsel for the respondent no. 3 tenders his affidavit in reply. The same is taken on record. 2. Heard the learned counsel for the parties. 3. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 2 15.6.2007 passed by the respondent Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee. It is the case of the petitioner that she belongs to the caste Mannervarlu which is notified as scheduled tribe. On the basis of the caste certificate issued to her, the petitioner got appointment to the post of Primary Teacher with the respondent no. 3. The respondent no. 3 referred the caste certificate of the petitioner for verification of her tribe claim as Mannervarlu scheduled tribe. 4. The Caste Scrutiny Committee examined the documents filed on record in support of her contention and also obtained the report of the Vigilance Cell which conducted the necessary inquiry and submitted their report on 13.9.2004. 5. The Caste Scrutiny Committee found that the documents collected by the Vigilance Cell in respect of the relatives of the applicant showed as "Hindu Telgu, Mali or only "Hindu Magaslela, Telgu,Fulmali and so on. The petitioner was unable to produce any document except for her own where the caste is shown as "Mannervarlu". 6. The petitioner was examined by the Caste Scrutiny Committee and gave to the petitioner an opportunity of personal hearing and the Committee found 3 that in view of the specific admission made by the petitioner that she accepts the finding of the Vigilance Cell particularly relating to the social traits, characteristics and traditions informed by her and also stated before the Caste Scrutiny Committee which clearly show that she do not belong to caste "Mannervarlu" and thereby invalidated her caste certificate issued by the Tahsildar & Executive Magistrate, Pune City vide No. Caste/State SR/343/90 dated 31.5.1990 which came to be cancelled and confiscated. 7. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner strongly contended that the Committee has not taken into consideration the case of the petitioner and has merely relied upon certain documents obtained by the Vigilance Cell and also ignored the school record of her cousin which records her caste as "Mannervarlu". Taking into consideration the voluminous documents which have been collected by the Vigilance Cell and the failure on the part of the petitioner or anyone from her paternal side to have established that they belong to caste "Mannervarlu", an isolated caste entry may not be sufficient to prove that she belonged to caste "Mannervarlu". Therefore, in the facts and circumstances of the case, the 4 petitioner having failed to establish by virtue of the documents or affinity that she belongs to caste "Mannervarlu", we do not find that the respondent Caste Scrutiny Committee has committed any error or illegality in invalidating her caste certificate. 8. The petitioner having secured the employment with the respondent no. 3 against the post reserved for the scheduled tribe on the basis of the caste certificate which was found to be invalid, the respondent no. 3 was justified in terminating her services. We, therefore, do not find any merit in the petition. The same is dismissed. (J.N. Patel, J.) (J.N. Patel, J.) (J.N. Patel, J.) (Smt. Mridula Bhatkar, J.) (Smt. Mridula Bhatkar, J.) (Smt. Mridula Bhatkar, J.)