(1) IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY, AURANGABAD BENCH, AT AURANGABAD. WRIT PETITION NO. 11170 OF 2010 Shrikant s/o. Parakash Yemulwad, Age : 20 years, Occupation : Education, R/o. Hibat, Taluka : Mukhed, District : Nanded. .. Petitioner. versus 1. The State of Maharashtra, Through its Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai-32. 2. Scheduled Tribe Caste Verification/ Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad. 3. Deputy Collector (EGS), Nanded. 4. The Tahasildar, Tahasil Office, Mukhed, Taluka : Mukhed, District : Nanded. .. Respondents. ....................... (2) Mr. S.B. Gastgar, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. S.K. Tambe, Assistant Government Pleader, for respondent nos. 1, 3 and 4. Mr. R.P. Phatke, Advocate, for respondent no.2. ........................ CORAM : B.R. GAVAI & R.M. BORDE, JJ. DATE : 15TH DECEMBER 2010 ORAL JUDGMENT (Per R.M. Borde, J.) : 1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith with the consent of parties. 2. An application tendered by the petitioner, for issuance of caste certificate, certifying that he belongs to "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe, has been turned down by the respondent no.3 / Deputy Collector (EGS), Nanded, and the said order passed by the Deputy Collector on 20th August 2008, is confirmed by the Scrutiny Committee on 29th September 2008, in exercise of appellate jurisdiction. (3) 3. The petitioner, in order to substantiate his claim, has placed reliance on the school record wherein entry in respect of his caste claim has been recorded as "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe. Apart from this, the petitioner places reliance on the judgment of the Scrutiny Committee, dated 9-1-2007, whereby it is ordered by the Committee, to issue caste certificate in favour of one Kashinath, who is real brother of the petitioner and accordingly, in pursuance to the order passed by the appellate authority, caste certificate has been issued in favour of said Kashinath, on 28-6-2007. The Circle Inspector, on conducting inquiry, has also reported that the petitioner, prima facie, appears to be belonging to "Mahadeo Koli", Scheduled Tribe. Considering all these aspects, the Deputy Collector, respondent no.3 herein, ought to have considered the application tendered by the petitioner favourably. 4. It is recorded in several judgments delivered by this Court, that the considerations for issuance of caste certificate differ from the parameters which are required to be applied while issuing the validity certificate by the Scrutiny Committee. At the stage of issuance of caste certificate, only prima facie material is required to be scrutinized, as the caste certificate is amenable to further scrutiny at the stage of issuance of validity certificate. (4) 5. In this view of the matter, the Writ Petition deserves to be allowed and the same is accordingly allowed. (i) The impugned order dated 20th August 2008, passed by the Deputy Collector (EGS), Nanded, thereby refusing to issue caste certificate in favour of the petitioner, as well as, the order dated 29th September 2008, thereby rejecting the appeal, are quashed and set aside. (ii) The respondent no.3 is directed to issue caste certificate in the prescribed form, in favour of the petitioner, within a period of four weeks from today. (iii) However, it is made clear that the observations made herein above are only for the purposes of considering the claim of the petitioner for grant of caste (tribe) certificate and that the Committee shall not be influenced by the same at the stage of considering the claim of the petitioner for grant of caste (tribe) validity certificate. It would be open for the Scrutiny Committee to consider the matter on its own merits. (5) 6. Rule made absolute accordingly. In the circumstances of the case, there shall be no order as to costs. ( R.M. BORDE ) ( B.R. GAVAI ) JUDGE JUDGE ......................... bgp/wp11170