Madras High Court

M.Gunasekaran vs The State Level Scrutiny Committee-Ii on 31 July, 2025

Author:
J.Nisha Banu

Bench:
J.Nisha Banu

W.P.Nos.24381 & 24387 of 2025

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

Reserved on : 07.07.2025
Pronounced on : 31.07.2025

C O R A M:

THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE J.NISHA BANU
AND
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.JOTHIRAMAN
W.P.Nos.24381 & 24387 of 2025
and
W.M.P.Nos.27436, 27439, 27456 & 27458 of 2025

W.P.No.24381 of 2025:

M.Gunasekaran ... Petitioner
-vs-

1. The State Level Scrutiny Committee-II
Rep. by its Member Secretary /
Deputy Conservator of Forest
Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-3)(2) Department,
Secretariat, Chennai-9.

2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police,
SC/ST Vigilance Cell, District Collectorate Complex,
Madurai Division, Madurai-20. ... Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under
Article 226
of the Constitution of India,
praying this Court to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the
records of the 2nd respondent in its Summons (91BNSS) dated 16.05.2025
and Show Cause Notice No.12597/CV-3(2)/2012-9 dated 03.06.2025 of the

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1st respondent, quash the same and consequently refrain the respondents
from conducting verification into the petitioner's caste status in the light of
the petitioner retirement on 30.06.2021.
***
W.P.No.24387 of 2025:
G.Thangavel ... Petitioner

-vs-

1. The Chairman,
State Level Scrutiny Committee-II/
Additional Secretary to Government,
Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-4) Department,
Secretariat, Chennai-9.

2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police,
District Crime Branch / (i/c) Social Justice and Human Rights,
SC/ST Vigilance Cell, Coimbatore Division,
Coimbatore-18.

3. The Senior Divisional Personnel Officer,
Divisional Office, Personnel Branch,
Southern Railway, Madurai. ... Respondents

PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under
Article 226
of the Constitution of India,
praying this Court to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the
records of the 2nd respondent in its C.No.76/DSP/SC/ST VIGILANCE
CELL/CBE/17 dated 17.06.2025, quash the same by refraining the
respondents from conducting verification into the petitioner's caste status in

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the light of the petitioner's retirement on 31.12.2018 and consequently
direct the 3rd respondent to sanction full pension along with commutation,
gratuity, earned leave, encashment and all other terminal benefits to the
petitioner.
In both writ petitions:
For Petitioners : Mr.V.Vijay Shankar

For R1 : Mr.Vadivel Deenadayalan
Addl. Govt. Pleader

For R2 : Mr.Babu Muthu Meeran
Addl. Public Prosecutor

*****
COMMON ORDER

(Common Order of the Court was made by J.NISHA BANU, J.)

Since the issues involved in both the writ petitions are one and the

same, they are disposed of by this common order. At the consent of both

sides, both the writ petitions are taken up for final hearing at the stage of

admission itself. Mr.Vadivel Deenadayalan, learned Additional Government

Pleader takes notice for R1. Mr.Babu Muthu Meeran, learned Additional

Public Prosecutor takes notice for R2. Notice to R3 in W.P.No.24397 of

2025 is dispensed with, as the 3rd respondent is only a formal party.

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2. W.P.No.24381 of 2025 has been filed assailing the summons

(91BNSS) dated 16.05.2025 issued by the Deputy Superintendent of Police,

State Level Scrutiny Committee II, SC/ST Vigilance Cell, District

Collectorate Complex, Madurai Division, Madurai 20 and show cause notice

No.12597/CV-3(2)/2012-9 dated 03.06.2025 issued by the Member

Secretary/Deputy Conservator of Forest, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare

(CV-3) Department, Secretariat, Chennai. Whereas, writ petition in

W.P.No.24387 of 2025 has been filed assailing the notice dated 17.06.2025

in C.No.76/DSP/SC/ST VIGILANCE CELL/CBE/17 issued by the Deputy

Superintendent of Police, District Crime Branch/Social Justice and Human

Rights, SC and ST Vigilance Cell, Coimbatore Division, directing the

petitioner concerned, to appear for enquiry.

3. The essential facts of the cases that are required for the disposal of

the writ petitions are deliberated as follows:-

3.1. Petitioner in W.P.No.24381 of 2025 belongs to Konda Reddis

(ST) community, which falls under the category of 'Schedules Tribes' as per

the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. He was issued with such

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community certificate on 01.03.1972 by the Tahsildar. Thereafter, the

petitioner got appointed in Vijaya Bank (now Bank of Baroda) in the year

1984. After completing 37 years of service, he reached superannuation on

30.06.2021 and the petitioner was sanctioned with his own contribution of

Provident Fund amounts and provisional pension alone. Other retirement

benefits such as sanctioned gratuity, earned leave encashment and full

pension/commutation, are yet to be received by the petitioner and the

petitioner has initiated separate legal proceedings to secure those retirement

benefits.

3.2. On 16.05.2025, nearly after four years from the date of retirement

of the petitioner, the second respondent has issued a notice calling upon the

petitioner to appear for enquiry on 20.05.2025 for verification of his

community certificate, which was issued 53 years ago. Based on the same,

the first respondent has issued a show cause notice to the petitioner on

03.06.2025. Aggrieved against the same, the petitioner has filed the present

writ petition.

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3.3. Meanwhile, in W.P.No.24387 of 2025, the petitioner therein also

belongs to Konda Reddis (ST) community, which falls under the category of

'Schedules Tribes' as per the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

Issued with a community certificate on 02.02.1980 by the Tahsildar, the

petitioner was appointed in the year 1981 in the office of the third

respondent herein/ Southern Railways. After completing 37 years of service,

the petitioner attained superannuation on 30.12.2018. Likewise in this matter

also, the petitioner was sanctioned with provisional pension alone and other

retirement benefits such as full pension, gratuity, earned leave encashment,

etc., have not been granted, for which, the petitioner has given

representation to the third respondent and the same is pending. While that

being so, on 17.06.2025, the second respondent issued a notice calling the

petitioner to appear for enquiry on 26.02.2025 for verification of his

community certificate, issued 45 years ago. Aggrieved against the same, the

petitioner has preferred the present writ petition.

4. Mr.V.Vijay Shankar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners

in both the writ petitions, submitted that this Court in a series of judgments

has consistently taken a view that after retirement of an employee, the

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process of verification will be academic and has restrained the

committee/verifying authority from proceeding further. The petitioners have

not been summoned for more than 40 years for verification of certificate and

in the interregnum reached superannuation. Therefore, he would submit that

respondents may be refrained from conducting verification of the petitioners'

caste status, since they have retired from service. The petitioners have also

filed affidavits of undertaking, respectively, stating that they will not make

any claim or concession based on their community certificates.

5. Per contra, the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing

for the respondents would submit that the impugned summons and show

cause notice have been issued to the petitioners only to appear before the

first respondent to submit their explanation along with proof of documents,

if any, and no adverse orders would be passed and the authorities concerned

are taking steps to verify the community certificates in the light of the

direction issued by the Hon'ble Apex Court vide orders dated 25.02.2025

and 02.06.2025 in Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.27890 of 2019.

6. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and the

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learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the official

respondents and perused the materials placed before this Court.

7. The extract of the observations and directions issued by the Hon'ble

Apex Court vide orders dated 25.02.2025 in Special Leave to Appeal (C)

No.27890 of 2019 is as follows:-

“4. This litigation has something to do with Caste
Certificate. It is the case of the respondent herein that she
belongs to Hindu Konda Reddis Community (Scheduled
Tribe).

5. She applied for a caste certificate for her son. The
same was declined after an inquiry undertaken by Revenue
Divisional Officer (for short the “RDO”). In such
circumstances, the respondent preferred a writ petition in
the High Court. The High court disposed of the writ petition
observing the following in para 7:-

“7. Be that as it may. As on date, the
Community Certificates issued to the Petitioner, her
sister, her brother and also of her close relatives,
were not cancelled and when they were not
cancelled, there cannot be any impediment in issuing
the Community Certificate to the Petitioner's son.
Accordingly, the Respondent RDO Mettur Dam,
Salem District, is directed to issue a Community
Certificate to the Petitioner's son S.P. Yesvanth,

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within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt
of a copy of this order. Thereafter, the Respondent-
RDO, Mettur Dam, Salem District is directed to refer
the said Community Certificate of the Petitioner,
Petitioner's brother, Petitioner's sister and also her
close relatives and .also of her son to be issued as
directed above, to the State Level Scrutiny Committee
for verification of the genuineness of the same. The
State Level Scrutiny Committee shall verify the
genuineness of the community. Certificates of the
Petitioner, Petitioner's brother, Petitioner's sister
and also of her close relatives, as also her son to be
issued as directed above, and pass appropriate
orders on or before 31.10.2019.”

6. Para 7 is in two parts. The first part of the para 7
says that the necessary certificate be issued in favour of the
son of the respondent herein and the second part says that
after the same is issued let there be a thorough inquiry at
the end of the State Level Scrutiny Committee whether the
entire family belongs to the Hindu Konda Reddis
Community (ST) or not.

7. Caste Certificate seems to be a big big problem in
the State of Tamil Nadu. It appears that thousands of such
certificates have been issued certifying people to be
members of the Hindu Konda Reddis Community falling
within Scheduled Tribe.

8. It is a different thing to say whether RDO could
have inquired into the genuineness of the claim or not. We
do not propose to get into this controversy for the present.

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9. However, we would like to ensure whether these
certificates are genuine or not. We would also like to know
in what manner such caste certificates have been procured
by thousands of people in the area.

10. For the present, we do not level any allegations
but prima facie it appears to be a huge racket. This is
something extremely dangerous.

11. In such circumstances, we propose to pass an
interim order today.

12. We are conscious of the fact that the State has
been able to obtain an interim order by which the operation
of the impugned judgment has been stayed. However, we
modify the order to the extent that let the State Level
Scrutiny Committee undertake an extensive inquiry into this
issue at the earliest and file its report before us to enable us
to proceed further in the matter. We direct the State Level
Scrutiny Committee to undertake this exercise at the earliest
and file its appropriate report within six weeks from today
without fail. The Report should be exhaustive supported by
some contemporaneous record and it should be in correct
english.

13. Once the report comes on record, we shall
thereafter proceed to look into each of the petitions
independently and decide them on their own merits.

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14. It goes without saying that in the course of the
inquiry all stake holders in other words all those who claim
to be members of this Hindu Konda Reddis Community shall
be heard.

15. The Committee shall undertake a fair, transparent
and impartial inquiry without being influenced in any
manner by any of the observations made in the impugned
order or by any other extraneous consideration including
any observation made by this Court on merits in the present
order.

16. We expect the State level Scrutiny Committee to
assist us in the right direction.

17. Rest of the interim order shall continue to
operate.

18. The impugned order of the High Court is modified
to the extent indicated above.

19. List the matter(s) after the report of the State
Level Scrutiny Committee is received. ”.

8. The Hon'ble Supreme Court, while hearing Appeal (C) No.27890 of

2019, arising out of the impugned final judgment and order passed by this

Court, dated 22.04.2019 in W.P.No.11336 of 2019, wherein the writ

petitioner has approached this Court for a direction to the official

respondents to issue community certificate to her son S.P.Yesvanth to the

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effect that he belongs to the Hindu Konda Reddis Community (ST) in the

light of the Community Certificate issued in favour of the petitioner on

30.06.1986. She has sought for a similar certificate for her son on

20.10.2016, by enclosing necessary documents including Community

Certificates of herself, her sister, her brother and other close relatives, which

came to be rejected by the official respondent therein. The counsel for the

petitioner therein has submitted that a common impugned order was passed

in respect of several individuals who applied along with the petitioner by

assigning stereo-typed reasons and the respondent has summarily rejected

the petitioner's request. Considering the same, this Court, vide its order dated

22.04.2019, has directed the respondents to issue community certificate to

the petitioner's son, which shall be sent to the State Level Scrutiny

Committee for verification of the genuineness of the community certificate

along with the community certificates of the petitioner, her sister, her

brother and other close relatives. The facts of the present writ petitions are

totally different to that of the writ petition cited by the Hon'ble Supreme

Court in Appeal (C) No.27890 of 2019. In the present case on hand, the

petitioners have rendered 37 years of service to the Government, and after

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attaining superannuation, the genuineness of the community certificates of

the petitioners have been questioned by the respondents, which this Court

feels is purely academic.

9. A similar issue was considered by this Bench in W.P.No.31452 of

2022, in which I was one of the parties to the said order. I allowed the claim

made by the petitioner therein, holding that the action of the respondent in

initiating a vigilance enquiry after the petitioner’s superannuation, and in

passing the impugned order after an unexplained and inordinate delay of

seven years, was not sustainable. It was observed that such delay could not

be construed as falling within a reasonable time and was therefore

unjustifiable. However, the other learned Judge constituting the Division

Bench rendered a divergent view and dismissed the petitioner’s claim. In

view of the difference of opinion, the writ petition was placed before a Third

Judge for resolution of the point of divergence. The learned This Judge of

this Court, vide its order dated 20.09.2024, concurred with the views

expressed by me.

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10. It is also pertinent to note that in the decision rendered by the

Hon'ble Apex Court in
Union of India vs. S.Renuka (S.L.P.(C)

No.24458/2019
) vide order dated 03.03.2023, the Hon'ble Apex Court has

recorded the submissions made by the learned senior counsel for the first

respondent, held that the respondent No.1, who served in the Railways has

superannuated on 28.02.2022 and therefore, the exercise in this case would

largely be academic on the aspect of whether she belonged to the claimed

Scheduled Tribe category, and considering the above, closed the

proceedings.

11. It is seen from the records that the petitioners in W.P.Nos.24381 &

24387 of 2025 have rendered nearly 37 years of service to the Government

and attained superannuation in their service on 30.06.2021 and 31.12.2018

respectively. Therefore, questioning the genuineness of their community

certificates, after a long time, that too, after a lapse of more than nearly 4

years and 7 years respectively, after their retirement, is definitely uncalled

for.

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12. The Apex Court in the case of
R.Sundaram vs. The Tamil Nadu

State Level Scrutiny Committee and Others
dated 17.03.2023, in Paragraph

No.16 held as follows:-

“16. It has been explicitly stated by this court that the
exercise of verification of community certificate must be
completed expeditiously. In the present case, however, as has
been mentioned above, there has been an inordinate and
unexplained delay of 19 years, an amount of time which cannot
be fathomed, within the ambit of 'reasonable time'.”
In the present cases on hand, it can be seen that the petitioner in

W.P.No.24381 of 2025 has entered government service in the 1984 and

retired on 30.06.2021, after rendering 37 years of service. Likewise, the

petitioner in W.P.No.24387 of 2025 has entered government service in the

1981 and retired on 31.12.2018, also after rendering 37 years of service. The

inordinate delay on the part of the respondents in initiating any enquiry into

the genuineness of the community certificates of the petitioners from the

dates of their initial appointment until their respective dates of

superannuation is highly unreasonable and cannot be justified under any

acceptable standard of prompt administrative action.

13. In yet another case, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of

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SLP(C) No.24458/2019 dated 03.03.2023, was pleased to hold as under:

“It is submitted that the respondent No.1 who served in
the Railways has superannuated on 28.02.2022 and therefore,
the exercise in this case would largely be academic on the
aspect of whether she belonged to the claimed Scheduled Tribe
category. Considering the above, we deem it is appropriate to
order for closure of the proceedings. Accordingly, the Special
leave Petition stands disposed of.”

14. The decision rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case

of
Kumari Madhuri Patil vs. Additional Commissioner
, reported in 1995

AIR 94 weighs much importance in the cases on hand, had elaborately dealt

with the issue of community certificate and observed that as per
Article

15(4)
of the Constitution of India, it is for the State to make special

provisions for advancement of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Further, it was observed that in the light of
Article 16(1)
, equality of

opportunity to all citizens in matters of appointments to an office or a post

under the Union or a State Government or public undertakings etc., should

be ensured. For that purpose,
Article 16(4)
empowers the State to make

provisions for reservation of appointments or posts in favour of classes of

citizens not adequately represented in the services under the State. The

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Hon'ble Supreme Court, in
the said judgment
while issuing certain

guidelines, insisted that the community certificate in respect of SC/ST

should be scrutinised at the earliest. For the sake of convenience, relevant

paragraphs of the judgment are reproduced below:

“It is, therefore, necessary that the certificates issued are
scrutinised at the earliest and with utmost expedition and
promptitude. For that purpose, it is necessary to streamline the
procedure for the issuance of social status certificates, their
scrutiny and their approval, which may be the following:

1. The application for grant of social status
certificate shall be made to the Revenue Sub-

Divisional Officer and Deputy Collector or Deputy
Commissioner and the certificate shall be issued by
such officer rather than at the Officer, Taluk or
Mandal level.

2. The parent, guardian or the candidate, as the
case may be, shall file an affidavit duly sworn and
attested by a competent gazetted officer or non-
gazetted officer with particulars of castes and sub-
castes, tribe, tribal community, parts or groups of
tribes or tribal communities, the place from which he
originally hails from and other particulars as may be
prescribed by the Directorate concerned.

3. Application for verification of the caste
certificate by the Scrutiny Committee shall be filed at
least six months in advance before seeking admission
into educational institution or an appointment to a
post.

4. All the State Governments shall constitute a
Committee of three officers, namely, (1) an Additional
or Joint Secretary or any officer higher in rank of the

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Director of the department concerned, (11) the
Director, Social Welfare/Tribal Welfare/Backward
Class Welfare, as the case may be, and (III) in the case
of Scheduled Castes another officer who has intimate
knowledge in the verification and issuance of the
social status certificates.

In the case of the Scheduled Tribes, the Research Officer
who has intimate knowledge in identifying the tribes, tribal
communities, parts of or groups of tribes or tribal communities.

5. Each Directorate should constitute a vigilance cell
consisting of Senior Deputy Superintendent of Police in over-
all charge and such number of Police Inspectors to investigate
into the social status claims. The Inspector would go to the
local place of residence and original place from which the
candidate hails and usually resides or in case of migration to
the town or city, the place from which he originally hailed
from. The vigilance officer should personally verify and collect
all the facts of the social status claimed by the candidate or the
parent or guardian, as the case may be. He should also examine
the school records, birth registration, if any. He should also
examine the parent, guardian or the candidate in relation to
their caste etc. or such other persons who have knowledge of
the social status of the candidate and then submit a report to the
Directorate together with all particulars as envisaged in the pro
forma, in particular, of the Scheduled Tribes relating to their
peculiar anthropological and ethnological traits, deity, rituals,
customs, mode of marriage, death ceremonies, method of burial
of dead bodies etc. by the castes or tribes or tribal communities
concerned etc.

6. The Director concerned, on receipt of the report from
the vigilance officer if he found the claim for social status to be
"not genuine" or 'doubtful' or spurious or falsely or wrongly
claimed, the Director concerned should issue show-cause
notice supplying a copy of the report of the vigilance officer to

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the candidate by a registered post with acknowledgement due
or through the head of the educational institution concerned in
which the candidate is studying or employed. The notice should
indicate that the representation or reply, if any, would be made
within two weeks from the date of the receipt of the notice and
in no case on request not more than 30 days from the date of
the receipt of the notice.”

15. Keeping in mind the above judgment of the Apex Court, an Office

Memorandum was issued on 24.12.2020 by the Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha

Secretariat. The relevant portions of the Office Memorandum are extracted

hereunder:

“...It is pertinent to mention that the
Departments/Banks/PSUs have not adhered to the above
mentioned guidelines of DoP&T and CVC and also it is not in
conformity with the Hon'ble Supreme Court judgment
delivered vide
Kumari Madhuri Patil Vs. Addl
. Commissioner
in 1995 AIR 94, 1994 SSC (6) 241 Order dated 02.09.1994
since this judgment can only be implemented in prospective.

2. Here, it is pertinent to bring to your notice DoP&T
OM no.230/08/2005-AVD II dated 25.05.2005, which clearly
states the following:-

“Government has, therefore decided that a
detailed verification of all such certificates produced
before various appointing authorities since 1995 be
carried. The CVOs are requested to initiate this task by
collecting the details of all those who had been
appointed in the Ministries/Departments or agencies
including CPSUs with which they are concerned, since

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1995 on the strength of ST certificates.

2. Keeping in view the above mentioned facts, it is
requested that the concerned State Level Scrutiny Committee
be directed to verify the ST caste certificates of only those
employees who were appointed after the year 1995 and the
process of verification should be completed within two
months. The Action Taken Report in this regard may be please
be forwarded to this Secretariat at the earliest but not later than
18.02.2021 so that the same may be placed before the
Committee.”

16. The above referred Office Memorandum makes it very clear that

community certificates of employees, who were inducted into Government

Service after 1995 can alone be subjected for scrutiny / verification. To be

more precise, it is incumbent on the employers / authorities to conduct

verifications ideally at the time of an employee's entry into service, so as to

ensure the accuracy and integrity of personnel records.

17. In furtherance thereof, the Government of India, Ministry of

Personnel, PG & Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training issued

instructions dated 21.10.2022 to all State / UT Governments, insisting upon

the need for timely verification of Caste / Community certificates, indicating

as follows:

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“3. In this regard, it is reiterated that the responsibility
for the issue and verification of Caste Certificate lies with the
concerned State / UT Government. The Hon'ble Supreme
Court, vide its order dated 02.09.1994 in the matter of
Kumari
Madhuri Patil vs. Addl
. Commissioner, has laid down the
detailed guidelines for effective verification of the Caste
Certificates of the employees by the State Government, so that
no person, on the basis of fake caste certificate, may secure
employment wrongfully in the Government.”

18. On a reading of the aforesaid instructions, it is apparent that the

Government of India is very keen in curbing the wrongful entry of an

employee in the Government Service based on the fake community

certificate and issued instructions to all State / UT Governments for

verification of the community certificates at the earliest point of time.

19. In an another Office Memorandum dated 30.11.2021, issued by

the Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions,

Department of Pension & Pensioner's Welfare strictly instructed concerned

Departments that unless departmental or judicial proceedings are pending

against a retired employee, the pensionary / retirement benefits due to the

retiring employee should not be withheld or delay on the ground of

pendency of verification of caste certificate.

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20. Learned counsel for the petitioners drew our attention to the

Government Order dated 15.10.2012 issued by the Government of Tamil

Nadu, constituting a District Level Vigilance Committee and State Level

Scrutiny Committee to verify the genuineness of the community certificates.

Vigilance Cells at Chennai, Salem, Trichy and Madurai were also formed to

verify the community status and submit a report to the Committee. In the

Government Order, the functions of the Vigilance Cells have been

enumerated and a time frame has also been fixed for completion of enquiry,

which reads as follows:

“vii) The inquiry should be completed as expeditiously
as possible preferably by day to day proceedings within such
period not exceeding two months. If after inquiry, the
competent committee finds the claim to be false or spurious,
they should pass an order cancelling the certificate issued and
confiscate the same. It should communicate within one month
from the date of the conclusion of the proceedings the result of
enquiry to the parent / guardian and the applicant.”

21. In the light of various judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court

and also the guidelines / instructions / GO issued by both Government of

India and State Government, from time to time, we are of the view that the

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respondents cannot keep the matter pending for months / years together in

the garb of verification of community certificates, especially when there is a

specific time frame fixed for completion of such verification.

22. In the present cases, the petitioners have entered Government

service and subsequently, got retired, after rendering nearly 37 years of

service. Therefore, the verification of the community certificates at this

belated stage will be a futile exercise and is not in consonance with the

various judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the guidelines issued

by the Government. Hence, we have no other option, but to set aside the

impugned proceedings.

23. Learned counsel for the petitioners would state that the petitioners,

at this age are finding difficult to appear for enquiry before the officials and

therefore, the petitioners would state that they are willing to surrender their

community certificates and they will not claim concessions to their children

on the basis of their community certificate, which is given solely to avoid

further harassment at the hands of the respondents under the pretext of

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verification proceedings initiated after superannuation.

24. It is relevant to extract the relevant paragraphs of the affidavits of

undertaking dated 30.06.2025 submitted by the petitioners, which read as

follows:

W.P.No.24381 of 2025:

"2) 1 submit that I belong to the Konda reddis
community (ST) Based on the community certificate in the
year 1972 issued in my favour, I was appointed in the
Vijaya Bank in the year 1984. 1 reached superannuation
after completing 37 years of service on 30.06.2021. I
submit that I have sanctioned only his own contribution of
PF amounts and provisional pension alone. He has yet to
be sanctioned gratuity, earned leave encashment and full
pension/commutation, for which I am taking separate legal
action.

3) I submit that I have two sons both are working in private
company. I have not obtained community certificates for
them to the effect that they belong to ST.

4) I, humbly submit that I am presently aged 64 years. I
submit that I will not make any claim or derive any
concessions on the basis of my caste certificate except to

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take such legal steps to obtain gratuity earned leave
encashment and full pension/commutation for the service
rendered by me. Recording the above I pray that this
Hon'ble Court may pass appropriate orders restraining the
respondents from conducting any verification into my caste
and pass such other order or orders as may be deemed fit.
W.P.No.24381 of 2025:

2) I submit that I belong to the Konda reddis
community (ST) Based on the community certificate in the
year 1980 issued in my favour, I was appointed in the
Southern Railway in the year 1981. I reached
superannuation after completing 37 years of service on
31.12.2018. 1 submit that 3rd respondent have sanctioned
only provisional pension, other benefits such as full
pension, commutation, gratuity, earned leave encashment
etc., have not been paid to me so far.

3) I submit that I have two children, one son who is working
in private company and the daughter is an house wife.. I
have not obtained community certificates for them to the
effect that they belong to ST.

4) I, humbly submit that I am presently aged 66 years. I
submit that I will not make any claim or derive any
concessions on the basis of my caste certificate. Recording
the above I pray that this Hon'ble Court may pass

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appropriate orders restraining the respondents from
conducting any verification into my caste and pass such
other order or orders as may be deemed fit.

25. Once a government servant has retired and completed all service

verifications during his tenure, reopening of the community certificate issue

amounts to re-litigation. It is pertinent to note that the employer accepted the

community certificates at the time of appointment of the petitioners and did

not raise any issue during the long years of service of the petitioners. A

retired employee has a legitimate expectation that benefits earned during

service will not be taken away arbitrarily after retirement. When a

community certificate is issued and accepted for decades, and no concerns

are raised, then there is a presumption that such certificates are valid and the

information contained within it are accurate. Post-retirement verification of a

community certificate is inherently burdensome, as it involves practical

difficulties such as loss of records, fading memories, and changed

circumstances, making it unjustly onerous for the individual to establish the

certificate’s authenticity.

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26. In view of the above, this Court is inclined to pass the following

orders:-

(i) With regard to W.P.No.24381 of 2025, the
impugned Summons (91BNSS) dated 16.05.2025 of the 2nd
respondent and the Show Cause Notice No.12597/CV-

3(2)/2012-9 dated 03.06.2025 of the 1st respondent, are
hereby set aside;

(ii) With regard to W.P.No.24387 of 2025, the
impugned summon of the 2nd respondent in
C.No.76/DSP/SC/ST VIGILANCE CELL/CBE/17 dated
17.06.2025, is hereby set aside. In view of setting aside of the
impugned summon dated 17.06.2025, a direction is issued to
the 3rd respondent to sanction full pension along with
commutation, gratuity, earned leave, encashment and all
other terminal benefits to the petitioner within a period of two
weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order: &

(iii) The petitioners shall surrender their community
certificates (if not already surrendered) to the concerned
Officials on due acknowledgment. The undertaking given by
the petitioners dated 30.06.2025 that they will not make any
claim or derive concessions to their child/children on the
basis of their caste certificates is hereby recorded and the

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same shall form part of this order. In case, any application
for issuance of community certificate is made by the son/s or
daughter/s of the petitioners in future for the purpose of
education, employment, etc., an independent enquiry can be
conducted by following due process of law and a decision
shall be taken in respect of issuance of community certificate
within two months from the date of receipt of application, if
any made, bearing in mind the judgment of the Supreme
Court / guidelines and the Government Order issued by the
State Government dated 15.10.2012 (referred to supra).

27. Accordingly, the Writ Petitions stand allowed. No costs.

Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.

31.07.2025
Index: Yes / No
Internet: Yes / No
Speaking Order / Non Speaking Order

ar/sts

To:

1. The Chairman,
State Level Scrutiny Committee-II/
Additional Secretary to Government,
Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-4) Department,
Secretariat, Chennai-9.

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2. The Deputy Superintendent of Police,
District Crime Branch / (i/c) Social Justice and Human Rights,
SC/ST Vigilance Cell, Coimbatore Division,
Coimbatore-18.

3. The Senior Divisional Personnel Officer,
Divisional Office, Personnel Branch,
Southern Railway, Madurai.

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J.NISHA BANU, J.

AND
M.JOTHIRAMAN, J.

sts

Common order made in
W.P.Nos.24381 & 24387 of 2025

Dated:

31.07.2025

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

RESERVED ON : 07-07-2025

PRONOUNCED ON : 31-07-2025

CORAM

THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE J. NISHA BANU
AND
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.JOTHIRAMAN

W.P.Nos.24381 & 24387 of 2025
AND
W.M.P.Nos.27436, 27458, 27439 & 27456 of 2025

W.P.No.24381 of 2025:

M.Gunasekaran
S/o.R.Muthuvenkatachalam,
No.F2, Plot 2, Vigneswara Dhanalakshmi Apartment,
Sakthi Nagar, 3rd Cross, Pallavaram, Chennai 43

Petitioner(s)

Vs

1.The State Level Scrutiny Committee II
represented by its Member Secretary/Deputy Conservator
of Forest, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-3)
Department, Secretariat, Chennai – 9.

2.The Deputy Superintendent of Police
SC/ST Vigilance Cell, District Collectorate Complex,
Madurai Division, Madurai 20

Respondent(s)

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W.P.No.24387 of 2025:

G.Thangavel
S/o.Gurusamy
No.9/52, Periyar Nagar, Nehru Nagar East,
Aerodrome Post, Coimbatore 641 014.

Petitioner(s)

Vs

1.The Chairman
State Level Scrutiny Committee II / Additional
Secretary to Government, Adi Dravidar and Tribal
Welfare (CV-4) Department, Secretariat Chennai 9.

2.The Deputy Superintendent of Police
District Crime Branch / (i/c) Social Justice and Human
Rights, SC and ST Vigilance Cell, Coimbatore Division,
Coimbatore 18.

3.The Senior Divisional Personnel Officer
Divisional Office, Personnel Branch, Southern Railway
Madurai

Respondent(s)

PRAYER in WP No. 24381 of 2025:

Writ Petition filed under
Article 226
of the Constitution of India to
issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus to call for the records of the second
respondent in its summons (91BNSS) dated 16.05.2025 and show cause
notice No. 12597 /CV- 3(2)/2012-9 dated 03.06.2025 of the first respondent
and quash the same and consequently refrain the respondents from

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conducting verification into the petitioner's caste status in the light of the
petitioner's retirement on 30.06.2021.

PRAYER in WP No.24387 of 2025:

Writ Petition filed under
Article 226
of the Constitution of India to
issue a writ of certiorarified mandamus to call for the records of the second
respondent in its C.No.76/DSP/SC/ST VIGILANCE CELL/CBE/17 dated
17.06.2025 and quash the same by refraining the respondents from
conducting verification into the petitioner's caste status in the light of the
petitioner's retirement in 31.12.2018 and consequently direct the third
respondent to sanction full pension along with commutation, gratuity, earned
leave encashment and all other terminal benefits to the petitioner.

For Petitioner(s)
in both petitions : Mr.V.Vijayashankar

For R1 in both
petitions : Mr.Vadivel Deenadayalan,
Additional Government Pleader
For R2 in both
petitions : Mr. Babu Muthumeeran
Additional Public Prosecutor

COMMON ORDER
(Made by M.Jothiraman J.)

I have had the benefit of going through the

opinion of the respected sister (HON'BLE

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MRS.JUSTICE J.NISHA BANU). I am unable to agree

with the reasoning or the conclusion reached by Her

Ladyship and I therefore give my own reasoning and

conclusions.

2. It is relevant to highlight that there is

no comprehensive statutory framework in our State

of Tamil Nadu governing the issuance, verification

and regulation of the community certificates. In

this regard, several States in India have enacted a

dedicated legislation that provides statutory

provision for procedural aspect to deter the misuse

or fraud claim of community certificate as in State

of Andhra Pradesh has enacted the
Andhra Pradesh

(Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward

Classes) Regulation of Issue of Community

Certificates Act, 1993
(Act No.16 of 1993).

Likewise, other States like Telangana, Kerala,

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Maharashtra, Odisha, Chattishgarh, Gujarat and Goa

have also enacted the similar Acts.

3. W.P.No.24381 of 2025 has been filed assailing the summons

(91BNSS) dated 16.05.2025 issued by the Deputy Superintendent of

Police, State Level Scrutiny Committee II, SC/ST Vigilance Cell, District

Collectorate Complex, Madurai Division, Madurai 20 and show cause

notice No.12597 /CV- 3(2)/2012-9 dated 03.06.2025 issued by the Member

Secretary/Deputy Conservator of Forest, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare

(CV-3) Department, Secretariat, Chennai.

4. W.P.No.24387 of 2025 has been filed assailing the notice

dated 17.06.2025 in C.No.76/DSP/SC/ST VIGILANCE CELL/CBE/17

issued by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, District Crime

Branch/Social Justice and Human Rights, SC and ST Vigilance Cell,

Coimbatore Division, directing the petitioner to appear for enquiry.

5. The case of the petitioner in W.P.No.24381 of 2025 is that he

belongs to Konda Reddis (ST) community. He was issued with a community

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certificate on 01.03.1972 by the Tahsildar. He was appointed in the year

1984 in Vijaya Bank (now Bank of Baroda). After completing 37 years of

service, he reached superannuation on 30.06.2021. He has been sanctioned

with his own contribution of Provident Fund amounts and provisional

pension and yet to be sanctioned gratuity, earned leave encashment and full

pension/commutation, for which, he is taking separate legal action. While

that being so, on 16.05.2025, the second respondent issued a notice calling

him to appear for enquiry on 20.05.2025. He was shocked to receive the

same, especially, as it seems to make verification of his community

certificate issued 45 years ago and he has retired from service and he is now

aged about 64 years. Based on the same, the first respondent has issued a

show cause notice to him on 03.06.2025, aggrieved by which, he has filed

the present writ petition.

6. The case of the petitioner in W.P.No.24387 of 2025 is that he

belongs to Konda Reddis (ST) community. He was issued with a community

certificate on 02.02.1980 by the Tahsildar. He was appointed in the year

1981 in Southern Railway, third respondent herein. After completing 37

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years of service, he reached superannuation on 30.12.2018. He has been

sanctioned with provisional pension, but, yet to be sanctioned other benefits

such as full pension, gratuity, earned leave encashment, etc., for which, he

has given representation to the third respondent and the same is pending.

While that being so, on 17.06.2025, the second respondent issued a notice

calling him to appear for enquiry on 26.02.2025. He was shocked to receive

the same, especially, as it seems to make verification of his community

certificate issued 45 years ago and he has retired from service and he is now

aged about 67 years. Aggrieved by the same, he has filed the present writ

petition.

7. The learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that this

Court in a series of judgments has consistently taken a view that after

retirement of an employee, the process of verification will be academic and

has restrained the committee/verifying authority from proceeding further.

The petitioners have not been summoned for more than 40 years for

verification of certificate and in the interregnum reached superannuation.

Therefore, he would submit that respondents may be refrained from

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conducting verification of the petitioners' caste status, since they have retired

from service. The petitioners have also filed affidavits of undertaking,

respectively, stating that they will not make any claim or concession based

on their community certificate.

8. Per contra, the learned counsel appearing for the respondents

would submit that the impugned summons and show cause notice have been

issued to the petitioners only to appear before the first respondent to submit

their explanation along with proof of documents, if any and there is no

adverse order came to be passed and the authorities concerned are taking

steps to verify the community certificates in the light of the direction issued

by the Hon'ble Apex Court vide orders dated 25.02.2025 and 02.06.2025 in

Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.27890 of 2019.

9. It is relevant to extract the relevant paragraphs of the affidavits

of undertaking dated 30.06.2025 submitted by the petitioners, which read as

follows:

W.P.No.24381 of 2025:

“2) I submit that I belong to the Konda reddis community

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(ST) Based on the community certificate in the year 1972 issued in
my favour, I was appointed in the Vijaya Bank in the year 1984. 1
reached superannuation after completing 37 years of service on
30.06.2021. I submit that I have sanctioned only his own
contribution of PF amounts and provisional pension alone. He has
yet to be sanctioned gratuity, earned leave encashment and full
pension/commutation, for which I am taking separate legal action.

3) I submit that I have two sons both are working in private
company. I have not obtained community certificates for them to
the effect that they belong to ST.

4) I, humbly submit that I am presently aged 64 years. I
submit that I will not make any claim or derive any concessions on
the basis of my caste certificate except to take such legal steps to
obtain gratuity earned leave encashment and full
pension/commutation for the service rendered by me. Recording the
above I pray that this Hon'ble Court may pass appropriate orders
restraining the respondents from conducting any verification into
my caste and pass such other order or orders as may be deemed fit.
W.P.No.24387 of 2025:

“2) I submit that I belong to the Konda reddis community (ST)
Based on the community certificate in the year 1980 issued in my
favour, I was appointed in the Southern Railway in the year 1981. I
reached superannuation after completing 37 years of service on
31.12.2018. I submit that 3rd respondent have sanctioned only
provisional pension, other benefits such as full pension,
commutation, gratuity, earned leave encashment etc., have not been

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paid to me so far.

3) I submit that I have two children, one son who is working in
private company and the daughter is an house wife.. I have not
obtained community certificates for them to the effect that they
belong to ST.

4) I, humbly submit that I am presently aged 66 years. I
submit that I will not make any claim or derive any concessions on
the basis of my caste certificate. Recording the above I pray that this
Hon'ble Court may pass appropriate orders restraining the
respondents from conducting any verification into my caste and pass
such other order or orders as may be deemed fit.”

10. We have considered the submissions made on either side and

perused the available records.

11. The points for consideration of legal issues arises in these

petitions are:

1.Whether the verification of community status of Government

employee can be continued even after the retirement of employee and
whether an enquiry as to the genuineness of Community Certificate
would be purely academic?

2.Whether a time limit should be prescribed for initiating

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proceedings for verification of community status or communicate
certificate of an employee?

12. It is to be noted that the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court

has already been dealt with the above legal issues in W.P.No.9995 of 2021

& 12700 of 2022 and passed an order dated 12.04.2024. The relevant

paragraphs are extracted hereunder:

''9.While hearing the lengthy arguments of not only
the learned counsels appearing for the petitioners in these three
cases, but also several other counsels who have raised same legal
issues in the writ petitions, the learned counsel appearing for the
employers in all these three cases, and Mr.P.Kumaresan, learned
Additional Advocate General, appearing for the official
respondents, this Court was requested to consider the following
legal issues :

(A)Whether the verification of community status of
Government employee can be continued even after the retirement
of employee and whether an enquiry as to the genuineness of
Community Certificate would be purely academic as observed by
the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Union of India and another v.

S.Renuka and others [SLP (C) No.24458/2019 dated
03.03.2023] ?

(B)Whether the verification of Community Certificate or
community status of any individual who secured employment

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under SC or ST quota before 1995, can be permitted/directed ?

(C)Whether a time limit should be prescribed for initiating
proceedings for verification of community status or Community
Certificate of an employee ?

(D)Whether terminal benefits of employees can be
withheld on account of pendency of proceedings for verification
as to the genuineness of Community Certificate or community
status of an employee who secure employment under SC or ST
quota ?

Issue No.(A): Whether the verification of community
status of Government employee can be continued even after the
retirement of employee and whether an enquiry as to the
genuineness of Community Certificate would be purely
academic as observed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in
Union
of India and another v. S.Renuka and others
[SLP (C)
No.24458/2019 dated 03.03.2023] ?

20.Therefore, we are unable to follow the three
judgments relied upon by the learned counsels appearing for the
petitioners, viz.,
Union of India and another v. S.Renuka and
others
[SLP (C) No.24458/2019 dated 03.03.2023],
V.Vallinayagam v. The Chairman, State Level Scrutiny
Committee-II, Secretariat, Chennai [W.P.No.27823 of 2023,
dated 25.09.2023] and V.Shanmugaraj v. The Chairman, State
Level Scrutiny Committee-II, Secretariat, Chennai
[W.P.No.29976 of 2023, dated 03.11.2023], in view of the
categorical pronouncement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the
judgments above referred to, on principles. Ratio of judgment

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alone is binding. It is only the reason assigned in the ratio
decidendi of a judgment.

The judgment of Hon'ble Supreme
Court in
S.Renuka
's case without considering the spirit of
several judgments including larger Bench of Hon'ble Supreme
Court, need not be followed.

Therefore, we have no hesitation to
hold that those three judgments may not be binding precedents as
they were rendered without noticing the binding precedents on
principles reiterated by Hon'ble Supreme Court in the cases of

Kumari Madhuri Patil, R.Vishwanatha Pillai, and Food
Corporation of India
(supra). Verification once started shall
continue till its logical end and retirement of an employee during
enquiry as to his community status does not affect the
proceedings.

Issue No.(B): Whether the verification of Community
Certificate or community status of any individual who secured
employment under SC or ST quota before 1995, can be
permitted/directed ?

32.When the Hon'ble Supreme Court has rendered a
judgment which is reiterated in several judgments of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court, there cannot be an Office Memorandum which
would whittle down the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court
which is binding as a law declared in terms of
Article 141
of the
Constitution. When the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court is
binding not only as a precedent, but as a law declared, there
cannot be an official instruction on the interpretation of the
judgment so as to limit its operation. This is the mischief that was

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done by way of the Office Memorandum dated 24.12.2020.

33.Therefore, this Court is unable to agree with the
submission of the learned counsels appearing for the petitioners
that there cannot be verification of Community Certificates which
were obtained prior to 1995. Equally, merely because
appointment was before 1995, it cannot be said that verification
in those cases cannot be done, as rightly pointed out by Hon'ble
Mrs. Justice N.Mala while expressing dissenting view that this
Court cannot declare or legitimise fraud committed by a person
merely because he obtained the false certificate or got
employment based on a false claim before 1995. It is settled that
fraud vitiates every solemn transaction and there cannot be a
legal sanction to condone fraud if it is committed before 1995.
Therefore, irrespective of date of Community Certificate or date
of appointment before or after 1995, verification as to the
genuineness of Community Certificate or claim as to one's
community status shall continue to its logical end.

Issue No.(C): Whether a time limit should be prescribed
for initiating proceedings for verification of community status
or Community Certificate of an employee ?

37.As it was pointed out by the Constitution Bench of the
Hon'ble Supreme Court in
State of Maharashtra v. Milind

reported in (2001) 1 SCC 4, which is clarified by later judgments,
no person can take advantage of the Scheduled Tribes Order for
any other purpose, merely because he has been shown indulgence
to complete his course or has secured an appointment by

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producing false certificate. Mere delay in making a reference
does not invalidate the order on scrutiny by competent authority.
Since we have held that verification can continue even after
retirement of an employee, this Court finds no logic to accept the
arguments of learned counsels appearing for the petitioners that
there must be time limit or limitation to be prescribed.

Issue No.(D): Whether terminal benefits of employees
can be withheld on account of pendency of proceedings for
verification as to the genuineness of Community Certificate or
community status of an employee who secure employment
under SC or ST quota ?

38.This Court, in several cases, finds that the delay is
caused mainly due to the recalcitrant and non-cooperative
attitude of the employees who refuse to cooperate with the
enquiry under some pretext or the other. Despite the Government
spending huge money for establishing a machinery to verify the
genuineness of the certificates or the claims as to one's
community status, the manner in which the employees adopt
delaying tactics, precludes us from holding that the employee
should be given benefit of his employment or terminal benefits
even during the pendency of verification of community status.

39.In a case where the verification was initiated just
before retirement on the basis of a stale claim or a complaint
without any verifiable material, the terminal benefits of an
employee cannot be withheld merely because the enquiry has
been commenced. In all other cases, where delay is attributable to

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the conduct of employee, there must be some protection to the
employer in the matter of disbursement of retirement benefits.
Depending upon the individual cases, this Court can direct
provisional pension to be disbursed to the employee subject to the
outcome of verification process either by State Level Scrutiny
Committee or by the District Level Vigilance Committee. Once a
person is retired, the verification process cannot be delayed
beyond three months. If the employee seeks unnecessary
adjournment or refuses to appear for an enquiry, he need not be
given provisional pension or retirement benefits without giving
him a clean chit as to the genuineness of his claim.''

13. It is apposite to mention that with regard to the legal issues as

to whether the Office Memorandum dated 24.12.2020 prohibits the scrutiny

of caste certificate issued prior to 1995 and there can be any limitation for

reviewing the act of fraud on constitution, the Hon'ble Division Bench of

this Court in W.P.No.4484 of 2021 vide order dated 24.08.2023, has

delivered a split verdict. In view of the same, the case was placed before the

learned third Judge to decide the legal issues. The learned third Judge vide

order dated 16.11.2023, had formulated the following points for

consideration:

''(i) Whether the O.M., dated 24.12.2020 prohibits

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scrutiny of caste certificate issued prior to 1995?

(ii) Whether the observation in the said O.M., that the
decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in
Kumari Madhuri
Patel Vs. Additional Commissioner
can be implemented only
prospectively is legally sustainable?

(iii) Can there be any limitation for reviewing act of
fraud on constitution?''

14. The relevant paragraphs of the aforesaid order, in which

answers to the above questions are given, are extracted hereunder:

''35. In the light of the above discussion and
reasoning, the questions framed for consideration are
answered as below:-

(i) Whether the O.M., dated 24.12.2020 prohibits
scrutiny of caste certificate issued prior to 1995?

NO. The observations made in the said OM is
misconception of the earlier OM dated 25/05/2005 and the
CVC circular is general in nature. There can be no
executive order prohibiting enquiry of fake or false caste
certificate which is not only a misconduct in the parlance of
service jurisprudence but a crime under penal law.

(ii) Whether the observation in the said O.M., that
the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Kumari

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Madhuri Patel Vs. Additional Commissioner can be
implemented only prospectively is legally sustainable?

No. Any interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment
contrary to the spirit of the judgment is non est in law as per
the decision of the constitutional Bench of the Supreme
Court in its judgement rendered in Commissioner of Central
Exercise -vs- Rathan Melting and wire Industries ( 2008
(13) SCC 1).

(iii) Can there be any limitation for reviewing act of
fraud on constitution? Fraud vitiates every solemn Act. By
executive orders limitation cannot be prescribed by acts of
fraud committed against constitution and laws. The
petitioner herein whose birth register entry made in the year
1958 show he belong to Hindu Man Ottan community. He
had obtained community certificate from Tahsildar, Attur at
Salem District as if he belongs to Kattunaiyakan community
which is a Schedule Tribe. His ST certificate cancelled by
the District Collector after enquiry as early as 1992 (i.e)
even before Maduri Patil judgment. However the petitioner
was able to manover, by filing writ petitions in sequences.
He had not cooperated for enquiry conducted by State Level
Scrutiny Committee. Enquiry by a senior police officer of
the rank of DSP attached to the special vigilance cell for
SC/ST had unravelled several truth about the dishonest act
of the petitioner which independently requires prosecution
apart from confiscation of his false community certificate

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besides departmental proceedings.

36. As a result, the judgement of the Hon'ble Mrs.
Justice N.Mala is confirmed. The Writ Petition stands
dismissed.

37. Since the petitioner has prevented the valuable
right of public office of a Schedule Tribe Member, it is open
to the State to take necessary penal action against the
petitioner for offences under
IPC
and also under
Section 3
(1)
za (E) of SC /ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The
second respondent/Employer is permitted to proceed
against the petitioner for necessary action for recovery in
accordance with law. No costs. Consequently, connected
Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.''

15. Feeling aggrieved by the above order dated 16.11.2023 in

W.P.No.4484 of 2021, the writ petitioner therein has preferred the Special

Leave Petition before the Hon'ble Supreme Court in SLP. (CIVIL) Diary

No. 50747/2023, in which, the Hon'ble Apex Court vide order dated

15.12.2023, has passed the following order:

''Delay condoned.

Issue notice to the respondents, returnable in six
weeks. Until the next date of listing, operation of para 37 of
the impugned order dated 16.11.2023 shall remain stayed.

We further grant liberty to the respondents to take note

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of the judgment in
Chairman and Managing Director, Food
Corporation of India and Others v. Jagdish Balaram Bahira
and Others
(2017) 8 SCC 670 and pass appropriate orders in
the matter of stopping provisional pension subject to final
outcome of these special leave petitions.

Pending applications stand disposed of.''

16. A careful perusal of the above order dated 15.12.2023 shows

that paragraph no.37 of the order dated 16.11.2023 passed in W.P.No.4484

of 2021 alone has been stayed by the Hon'ble Apex Court.

17. It is pertinent to mention that with regard to the issuance of

community certificate based of the community certificate already issued to

the parents and relatives has already been dealt with by the Hon'ble Division

Bench of this Court in W.P.No.11336 of 2019 vide order dated 22.04.2019.

Aggrieved over the same, the State has also preferred an appeal before the

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Special Leave to Appeal (C) No.27890 of

2019 .

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18. It is most relevant to cite that the Hon'ble Division Bench of

this Court in W.P.No.11336 of 2019 vide order dated 22.04.2019 had issued

direction to provide community certificate based on the father's and

relatives' community certificates to the writ petitioner's minor son therein

(Hindu Konda Reddis (ST) Community). The relevant portion of the said

order is extracted hereunder:

''2. It is the case of the petitioner that her family belongs to
Konda Reddis Community, which is classified as a Scheduled Tribe
Community. The petitioner was issued with Community Certificate
on 30.06.1986 by the Tahsildar, Mettur Dam. The petitioner's own
brother B.Vinothkumar was also issued with a Community
Certificate in the year 1989 by the Tahsildar. All of them, including
the petitioner, had been described as belonging to the Konda Reddis
Community in their educational and land records. It is also stated
that the petitioner's close relatives possess Community Certificates
describing them as belonging to Konda Reddis Community.

3. On 20.10.2016, the petitioner applied to the respondent for
issuance of Community Certificate for her minor child, viz.,
S.P.Yesvanth, by enclosing necessary documents including
Community Certificates of herself, her sister, her brother and other
close relatives. By the impugned order dated 23.03.2018, the
petitioner's application stated above, was rejected. Hence, the

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petitioner has filed the present Writ Petition for the relief stated
supra.

4. When the Writ Petition is taken up for hearing, the learned
counsel for the petitioner made his submissions adverting to the
averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the Writ Petition.

5. This Court also heard the submissions of the learned
Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondent on the
above aspects.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that by the
impugned order, a common order has been passed in respect of
several individuals who applied along with the petitioner by
assigning stereo-typed reasons and the respondent has summarily
rejected the petitioner's request. However, learned counsel for the
petitioner submitted that the respondent/RDO has made discreet
enquiry behind the back of the petitioner and placed reliance on such
materials. Learned counsel for the petitioner further stated that the
impugned order was passed by the RDO, Sankagiri, who was holding
the additional charge of the post of RDO, Mettur Dam.

7. Be that as it may. As on date, the Community Certificates
issued to the petitioner, her sister, her brother and also of her close
relatives, were not cancelled and when they were not cancelled,
there cannot be any impediment in issuing the Community
Certificate to the petitioner's son. Accordingly, the respondent-

RDO Mettur Dam, Salem District, is directed to issue a Community
Certificate to the petitioner's son S.P.Yesvanth, within a period of
two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

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Thereafter, the respondent-RDO, Mettur Dam, Salem District is
directed to refer the said Community Certificate of the petitioner,
petitioner's brother, petitioner's sister and also her close relatives
and also of her son to be issued as directed above, to the State Level
Scrutiny Committee for verification of the genuineness of the same.
The State Level Scrutiny Committee shall verify the genuineness of
the Community Certificates of the petitioner, petitioner's brother,
petitioner's sister and also of her close relatives, as also her son to
be issued as directed above, and pass appropriate orders on or
before 31.10.2019.

8. With the above observations and directions, this Writ
Petition is disposed of. No Costs.''

19. Aggrieved over the above order passed in W.P.No.11336 of

2019, the Sub Collector/Revenue Divisional Officer has preferred a Petition

before the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Petition for Petition for Special Leave

to Appeal (C) No.27890 of 2019. The Hon'ble Supreme Court, vide order

dated 25.02.2025, has passed the following order:

''4. This litigation has something to do with Caste Certificate.
It is the case of the respondent herein that she belongs to Hindu
Konda Reddis Community (Scheduled Tribe).

5. She applied for a caste certificate for her son. The same

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was declined after an inquiry undertaken by Revenue Divisional
Officer (for short the “RDO”). In such circumstances, the
respondent preferred a writ petition in the High Court. The High
court disposed of the writ petition observing the following in para
7:-

“7. Be that as it may. As on date, the Community
Certificates issued to the Petitioner, her sister, her
brother and also of her close relatives, were not cancelled
and when they were not cancelled, there cannot be any
impediment in issuing the Community Certificate to the
Petitioner's son. Accordingly, the Respondent RDO
Mettur Dam, Salem District, is directed to issue a
Community Certificate to the Petitioner's son S.P.
Yesvanth, within a period of two weeks from the date of
receipt of a copy of this order. Thereafter, the
Respondent-RDO, Mettur Dam, Salem District is directed
to refer the said Community Certificate of the Petitioner,
Petitioner's brother, Petitioner's sister and also her close
relatives and .also of her son to be issued as directed
above, to the State Level Scrutiny Committee for
verification of the genuineness of the same. The State
Level Scrutiny Committee shall verify the genuineness of
the community. Certificates of the Petitioner, Petitioner's
brother, Petitioner's sister and also of her close relatives,
as also her son to be issued as directed above, and pass
appropriate orders on or before 31.10.2019.”

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6. Para 7 is in two parts. The first part of the para 7 says that
the necessary certificate be issued in favour of the son of the
respondent herein and the second part says that after the same is
issued let there be a thorough inquiry at the end of the State Level
Scrutiny Committee whether the entire family belongs to the Hindu
Konda Reddis Community (ST) or not.

7. Caste Certificate seems to be a big big problem in the State
of Tamil Nadu. It appears that thousands of such certificates have
been issued certifying people to be members of the Hindu Konda
Reddis Community falling within Scheduled Tribe.

8. It is a different thing to say whether RDO could have
inquired into the genuineness of the claim or not. We do not propose
to get into this controversy for the present.

9. However, we would like to ensure whether these
certificates are genuine or not. We would also like to know in what
manner such caste certificates have been procured by thousands of
people in the area.

10. For the present, we do not level any allegations but
prima facie it appears to be a huge racket. This is something
extremely dangerous.

11. In such circumstances, we propose to pass an interim
order today.

12. We are conscious of the fact that the State has been able
to obtain an interim order by which the operation of the impugned
judgment has been stayed. However, we modify the order to the
extent that let the State Level Scrutiny Committee undertake an

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extensive inquiry into this issue at the earliest and file its report
before us to enable us to proceed further in the matter. We direct the
State Level Scrutiny Committee to undertake this exercise at the
earliest and file its appropriate report within six weeks from today
without fail. The Report should be exhaustive supported by some
contemporaneous record and it should be in correct English.

13. Once the report comes on record, we shall thereafter
proceed to look into each of the petitions independently and decide
them on their own merits.

14. It goes without saying that in the course of the inquiry
all stake holders in other words all those who claim to be members
of this Hindu Konda Reddis Community shall be heard.

15. The Committee shall undertake a fair, transparent and
impartial inquiry without being influenced in any manner by any
of the observations made in the impugned order or by any other
extraneous consideration including any observation made by this
Court on merits in the present order.

16. We expect the State level Scrutiny Committee to assist us
in the right direction.

17. Rest of the interim order shall continue to operate.

18. The impugned order of the High Court is modified to the
extent indicated above.''

20. Further, the Honb'le Apex Court in the said Special Leave to

Appeal (C) No.27890 of 2019 vide dated 02.06.2015 has passed the

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following order:

“ 1. Let I.A. Nos. 135459 of 2025 and 135460 of 2025 be
placed before the appropriate Bench subject to approval of
Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India.

2. Considering that the Bench which has passed the
earlier orders in the present matters is not available during the
partial Court working days, the time allowed for submission of
the report to the State Level Scrutiny Committee by this Court
vide order dated 25.02.2025 shall stand extended by a further
period of three months.

3. Accordingly, I.A. No.93854 of 2025 seeking extension
of time is allowed.''

21. From the reading of the above order, it is clear that the Hon'ble

Supreme Court has issued directions to the State Level Scrutiny Committee

in paragraph nos.14 and 15 to undertake a fair, transparent and impartial

inquiry without being influenced in any manner by any of the observations

made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

22. It is brought to the notice of this Court that the Hon'ble Division

Bench of this Court by order dated 27.03.2024 in W.P.No.31452 of 2022,

had passed a dissenting order. Thereafter, the issue was decided by the

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learned third Judge of this Court vide order dated 20.09.2024. The facts of

that case are that the petitioner therein was issued with the community

certificate by the Tahsildar, Mettur, on 14.09.1978, based on which, he was

appointed as Time Scale Clerk in the Department of Telecommunication on

07.09.1979 and he was terminated from service vide order dated 01.06.1984

on the basis of the letter of the Collector and thereafter, the petitioner therein

challenged the same before this Court and the same was transferred to the

Central Administrative Tribunal in T.A.No.6 of 1992, which was allowed on

16.03.1994. When the District Level Vigilance Committee attempted to

verify the petitioner's community certificate, he had challenged the same in

W.P.No.6404 of 2004 on the ground that the District Level Vigilance

Committee did not have jurisdiction to verify the community certificate. The

said writ petition came to be allowed stating that the competent authority

was the State Level Scrutiny Committee. Meanwhile, the petitioner therein

superannuated from service on 30.11.2014. After superannuation, the

petitioner therein had received summons from the Vigilance Cell for enquiry

in February 2019. Finally, the Tamil Nadu State Level Scrutiny Committee-

III had canceled the community certificate of the petitioner's therein vide

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order dated 17.08.2021, aggrieved by which, a writ petition came to be filed

by the petitioner therein. In the instant case on hand, after retiring from their

service, the second respondent has issued summons for appearance of the

petitioners to conduct enquiry with regard to the genuineness of their

community certificates. The facts of the present case is entirely different

from the facts of the case involved in the aforesaid writ petition in

W.P.No.31452 of 2022.

23. It is to be noted that the State Government of Tamil Nadu has

constituted the District Level Vigilance Committee and State Level Scrutiny

Committee and also issued guidelines to verify the genuineness of the

community certificate issued to the persons belonging to the SC & ST vide

Government Order in G.O.Ms.No.106 dated 15.10.2012 (Adi Dravidar and

Tribal Welfare (CV- I) Department), the relevant portion of which, reads as

follows:

“In order to protect the welfare of the genuine Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes people from the false claimants, the
Government have been examining the matter to frame suitable
guidelines based on the guidelines issued by Supreme Court of India

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in
Madhuri Patil and another Vs Additional Commissioner, Tribal
Development and others
to suit the conditions prevailing in Tamil
Nadu, so that they could work out in a systematic manner without
facing any difficulty in its implementation. Accordingly in
supersession of the orders and guidelines issued on the subject, the
Government have issued orders in the G.O. 5th cited modified the
constitution of the District Level Vigilance Committee and State
Level Scrutiny Committee as well as their functions as detailed
therewith.

2. However, as per the Supreme Court direction, the
Vigilance Cells have not been constituted to verify the community
status of the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled
Tribes and to submit its report to the District Level Vigilance
Committee/State Level Scrutiny Committee. Hence the District Level
Vigilance Committees/State Level Scrutiny Committee utilizes the
services of the Revenue Officials such as Tahsildars/Revenue
Divisional Officers for making spot enquiry about the individual’s
Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes community status going to their
place and submits the reports to the competent Committee.

3. Whileso, the Hon’ble Bench of Madras High Court in
various Writ Petition Nos. 20277/2011, 17002/2011, 25148/2011
filed by Tvl. P. Vinoth, S. Saraswathi and V. Sampangiramiah
respectively has set aside the proceedings of the State Level Scrutiny
Committee when the Community Certificate was declared as not
genuine stating that the State Level Scrutiny Committee has not
obtained the spot enquiry report of the Vigilance Cells as directed

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by the Supreme Court and also directed that it is high time that the
Government should take note of the same and constitute vigilance
cells with qualified personnel to decide about the communal status
of the candidates so as to head off the repetition of such sort of
decisions given by the State Level Scrutiny Committee in a half –
hearted manner”. Further in W.P. No.16325 of 2012 and M.P. No.
1 of 2012 filed by Thiru. R.P. Arul Vs the Secretary to Government,
Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department had directed to
constitute a Vigilance Cell citing its earlier orders of the Hon’ble
Division Bench of Madras High Court passed in W.P. No. 20277 of
2011 filed Thiru.
P. Vinoth Vs Sub-Collector, Ranipettai
.

4. In consonance to the orders of the Supreme Court of India
and as per the directions of Hon’ble Bench of Madras High Court,
Madras in the above Writ Petitions, the Government after careful
examination have decided to constitute Vigilance Cells and also to
modify the functions of the Committees ordered in G.O.(2D)No. 108
Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department dated 12.09.2007.

5. Formation of Vigilance Cells:-

The Vigilance Cells are constituted regional level to verify
the community status of the persons belonging to Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes and to submit its report to the competent
committee as below:-

i. Chennai Region : Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepruam,
Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore. The
Headquarters is Chennai.

ii. Salem Region: Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri,

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Namakkal, Erode,
Coimbatore and Tiruppur. The Headquarters is Salem.

iii. Tiruchirapalli Region: Tiruchirapalli, Karur,
Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur,
Dindugal and The Nilgiris.The Headquarters is Tiruchirapalli.

iv. Madurai Region: Madurai, Theni, Sivagangai,
Virudhunagar, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi,
Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari.

The Headquarters is Madurai.

6. The following Staff are sanctioned for each vigilance cell
Sl.No. Name of the Post Number of Posts

1 Senior DSP 1

2 Inspector of Police/ Sub Inspector of 1

Police

3 Police Constable 1

Total Post 3

Total Strength for four person 4X3 = 12

7. The Home Department is requested to take action for
allotment of the police personnel so sanctioned at para 6 above to
the said four Regional level Vigilance Cells on deputation basis.

Each Vigilance Cell will be functioning under the control of the
Senior Deputy Superintendent of Police and these cells shall be
located at the respective District Police Head Quarter under the
control of Director of Tribal Welfare.

8. The Police Personnel so sanctioned at para 6 above shall
work directly under the control of the Director of Tribal Welfare

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after being imparted special training on verification of Scheduled
castes/Scheduled Tribes in co-ordination with the Commissioner of
Adi Dravidar Welfare and Director, Tribal Research Centre, Ooty.

10. Functions of the Vigilance Cells

i) Petition/Application/Scrutinisation for verification of the
caste certificate by the District Level Vigilance Committee/State
Level Scrutiny Committee shall be filed within a period of six
months in case of appointment already made and in case of seeking
admission into educational institution or an appointment to a post
the individual/parent or employer or recruiting agency shall be filed
at least six months before in advance to the committee as the case
may be.

ii) On receipt of the application from the employer/
recruiting agency for verification of the genuineness of the
Community Certificate of the individual the District Level Vigilance
Committee/State Level Scrutiny Committee to refer the case to the
respective Vigilance Cell where the Community Certificate was
issued to the individual by the competent authority for verification
of the community status of the individual.

iii) On receipt of the reference from District Level Vigilance
Committee/State Level Scrutiny Committee, the Inspector of the
vigilance cell would go to the local place of residence and original
place from which the candidate hails and usually resides or in case
of migration to the town or city, the place from which he originally
hailed from. The Vigilance officer should personally verify and
collect all the facts of the social status claimed by the candidate or

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the parent or guardian as the case may be. He also should examine
the school records, birth registration, if any. He should also
examine the parent, guardian or the candidate in relation to their
caste, etc or such other persons who have knowledge of the social
status of the candidate and then submit a report to the District Level
Vigilance Committee/State Level Scrutiny Committee together with
all particular’s of as envisaged in the proforma, in particular the
Scheduled Tribes relating to their peculiar anthropological and
ethnological traits, deity, rituals, customs, mode of marriage, death
ceremonies, method of burial of dead bodies etc by the concerned
castes or tribes or tribal communities etc.

iv) The District Level Vigilance Committee/ State Level
Scrutiny Committee, on receipt of the report from the Vigilance
officer if it is found that the claim for social status to be “not
genuine” or “doubtful” or spurious or falsely or wrongly claimed,
the competent committee should issue show cause notice supplying a
copy of the report of the vigilance officer to the candidate by a
registered post with acknowledgement due or through the head of
the concerned educational institution in which the candidate is
studying or employed. The notice should indicate that the
representation or reply, if any would be made within two weeks
from the date of the receipt of the notice and in no case on request
not more than 30 days from the date of the receipt of the notice. In
case the candidate seeks for an opportunity of hearing the claims an
inquiry to be made in that behalf, the competent committee on
receipt of such representation/reply shall convene the committee

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and the chairman who shall give reasonable opportunity to the
candidate/ parent/guardian to adduce all evidence in support of
their claim. After giving such opportunity either in person or though
counsel, the committee may make such inquiry as it deems expedient
and consider the claims vis-à-vis the objections raised by the
candidate or opponent and pass an appropriate order with brief
reasons in support thereof.

v) In case the report is in favour of the candidate and
reported to be genuine and true, the committees will decide. No
further action need be taken except where the report or the
particulars given are procured or found to be false or fraudulently
obtained and in the latter event the same procedure as is envisaged
in para (iii) be followed.

vi) Notice contemplated in para (iii) should be issued to the
parents/guardian also in case candidate is minor to appear before
the committee with all evidence in his or their support of the claim
for the social status certificates.

vii) The inquiry should be completed as expeditiously as
possible preferably by day to day proceedings within such period
not exceeding two months. If after inquiry, the competent committee
finds the claim to be false or spurious, they should pass an order
cancelling the certificate issued and confiscate the same. It should
communicate within one month from the date of the conclusion of
the proceedings the result of enquiry to the parent/guardian and the
applicant.

viii) In case of any delay in finalizing the proceedings and in

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the meanwhile the last date for admission into an educational
institution or appointment to an office or post is getting expired, the
candidate be admitted by the Principal or such other authority
competent in that behalf or appointed on the basis of the social
status certificate already issued or an affidavit duly sworn by the
parent/guardian/candidate before the competent officer or non-
official and such admission or appointment should be only
provisional, subject to the result of the inquiry by the scrutiny
committee.

ix) The order passed by the committees shall be final and
conclusive only subject to the proceedings under Art 226 of the
constitution.

x) No suit or other proceedings before any other authority
should lie.

xi) In case, the certificate obtained or social status claimed
found to be false, the parent/guardian/ the candidate should be
prosecuted for making false claim. If the prosecution ends in a
conviction and sentence of the accused, it could be regarded as an
offence involving moral turpitude, disqualification for elective posts
or offices under the state or the union or elections to any local body,
legislature or the Parliament.

xii) As soon as the finding is recorded by the scrutiny
committee holding that the certificate obtained was false, on its
cancellation and confiscation simultaneously, it should be
communicated to the concerned educational institution or the
appointing authority by registered post with acknowledgment due

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with a request to cancel the admission or the appointment. The
Principal etc of the educational institution responsible for making
the admission or the appointing authority, should cancel the
admission/appointment without any further notice to the candidate
and debar the candidate for further study or continue in office in a
post and accordingly the above guidelines will be incorporated in
the Annexure to the G.O. (2D) No. 108 Adi Dravidar and Tribal
Welfare Department dated 12.09.2007.

11. All the Heads of Departments, District Collectors,
Universities, Educational Institutions, Central / State / Public Sector
Undertakings in respect of persons belonging to their institutions
and other recruiting agencies which are implementing constitutional
reservation benefits to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes are
directed to follow the orders issued in para 3 of the G.O. (2D) No.
108 Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department dated 12.09.2007
strictly for the verification 6 of the genuineness of Community
Certificates issued as Scheduled Castes /Scheduled Tribes.”

24. In the instant case on hand, according to the petitioners, the

community certificates (Konda Reddis (ST) Community) issued in their

favour by the Tahsildar still holds good and has not been canceled so far and

after their retirement, process of verification will be academic and has

restrained the verifying authority from proceeding. For the past forty years,

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they have not been summoned for verification and in the interregnum

reached superannuation. For consideration of this Court, they also filed

affidavits of undertaking.

25. It is not the case of the petitioners that there is a violation of

principle of natural justice and there is a defiance of the guidelines issued by

the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the Hon'ble Division Benches of this Court

and the impugned noticed issued by the authorities are not in consonance

with G.O.Ms.No.106 dated 15.10.2012 (Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare

(CV- I) Department). It is no doubt, High Court play a crucial role in dealing

with issuance and verification of Scheduled Caste(s) and Scheduled Tribe(s)

community certificates, as mandated under the Constitution of India by

balancing the need to verify authenticity by protecting genuine individuals'

right from harassment or undue delay.

26. Thus, keeping in mind the ratio
laid down by
the Hon'ble

Supreme Court in various cases pertaining to this issue and the Hon'ble

Division Benches of this Court and also taking into account G.O.Ms.No.106

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dated 15.10.2012 Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV- I) Department, I

am of the view that verification once started shall continue till its conclusion

and mere acceptance of undertaking affidavits filed by the petitioners for

restraining the authorities is not sustainable under law when the authorities

are empowered to issue the impugned notices calling upon the petitioners for

enquiry to verify the genuineness of their community certificates in order to

ensure implementation of constitutional reservation benefits to the

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and therefore, the same cannot be

quashed at this stage. There is no merits in these petitions and the same is

liable to be dismissed.

Ergo, these writ petitions stand dismissed. No costs. Connected

W.M.Ps. are closed.

(M.J.R., J.)
31-07-2025
nsd
Index:Yes/No
Speaking/Non-speaking order
Internet:Yes
Neutral Citation:Yes/No

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To

1.The State Level Scrutiny Committee II
represented by its Member Secretary/Deputy Conservator
of Forest, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-3)
Department, Secretariat, Chennai – 9.

2.The Deputy Superintendent of Police
SC/ST Vigilance Cell, District Collectorate Complex,
Madurai Division, Madurai 20

3.The Chairman
State Level Scrutiny Committee II / Additional
Secretary to Government, Adi Dravidar and Tribal
Welfare (CV-4) Department, Secretariat Chennai 9.

4.The Deputy Superintendent of Police
District Crime Branch / (i/c) Social Justice and Human
Rights, SC and ST Vigilance Cell, Coimbatore Division,

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Coimbatore 18.

5.The Senior Divisional Personnel Officer
Divisional Office, Personnel Branch, Southern Railway
Madurai

J.NISHA BANU J.

AND
M.JOTHIRAMAN J.

nsd

W.P.Nos.24381 & 24387 of 2025

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31.07.2025

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W.P.Nos.24381 & 24387 of 2025
J.NISHA BANU, J.

AND
M.JOTHIRAMAN, J.

Today, (31.07.2025), these writ petitions are listed under the caption

'for pronouncement of orders'.

2. These writ petitions came to be allowed by me. After

pronouncement of orders by me, Hon'ble Mr.Justice M.Jothiraman,

pronounced the orders, dismissing the writ petitions.

3. In view of the contradictory views taken in the present case by us,

Registry is directed to place this matter before the Honourable the Chief

Justice for further action in this regard.

(J.N.B.J.,) & (M.J.R.J.,)
31.07.2025
sts

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