Rahul Vishnu Khot v. State Of Maharashtra And Others

-1IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO. 6928 OF 2015 Rahul s/o Vishnu Khot, Age : 19 years, Occu: Student.

R/o. Govardhanwadi, Tq. & Dist. Osmanabad.

... Petitioner

Versus

1.

The State of Maharashtra Through its Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32.

2.

The Scheduled Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad.

Through its Deputy Director (R) Aurangabad.

3.

The Sub-Divisional Officer, Osmanabad, Tq. & Dist. Osmanabad.

... Respondents .....

Advocate for Petitioner : Mr. P. V. Jadhavar A.G.P. for respondent Nos. 1 and 3 : Mr. K. M. Suryawanshi Advocate for respondent No. 2 : Mr. A. B. Tele .....

CORAM : S. V. GANGAPURWALA AND V. K. JADHAV, JJ.

DATED : 17th JULY, 2015 ORAL JUDGMENT (PER S. V. GANGAPURWALA, J.) 1.

Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the learned counsel for the parties, taken up for final hearing. 2.

Mr. Jadhavar, the learned counsel for the Petitioner submits

-2that the Petitioner has filed application seeking tribe certificate as belonging to "Koli Mahadev", Scheduled Tribe with Respondent No.

3. The said application is rejected by Respondent No. 3. The Petitioner filed appeal before Respondent No. 2. The appeal is also dismissed. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that school record of the Petitioner shows the caste being recorded as "Koli Mahadev", Scheduled Tribe. The second cousin of the Petitioner has been issued validity certificate. Father of the Petitioner is illiterate farmer and as such is not having school record. The counsel submits that there is no contra evidence on record. The counsel further submits that at this stage detailed investigation is not required and the Authorities are required to be prima facie satisfied only. The learned counsel further submits that this Court, vide order dated 27.04.2015, had directed the respondents to issue tribal certificate of "Koli Mahadev" Scheduled Tribe to the real brother of the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 4791 of 2015.

3.

The learned A.G.P. for State and Mr. Tele , the learned counsel for Committee submit that the Petitioner has failed in the affinity test. The validity certificate which is sought to be relied, is also not relevant as the name of the said person does not appear in the pedigree.

-34.

We have considered the submissions canvassed by the learned counsel for the respective parties.

5.

It is trite that at the stage of issuance of tribe certificate detailed investigation and enquiry is not contemplated. The Authority has to be prima facie satisfied. It appears that the name of Tulshiram Gangadhar Khot appears in the pedigree submitted by the Petitioner. Even this Court has directed the respondents to issue tribe certificate in favour of the real brother of the petitioner vide order dated 27.04.2015 passed in Writ Petition No. 4791 of 2015. Be that as it may. School record of the Petitioner consistently shows the caste recorded as "Koli Mahadev". Even in respect of his real brother and sister, the school record shows that the caste is recorded as "Koli Mahadev". Considering this prima facie evidence, there was no impediment for the Authority to issue the tribe certificate. Of course, the tribe certificate, at the time of validation proceedings, will have to undergo affinity test and detailed inquiry.

6.

In light of above, we pass the following order :

O R D E R

(a) The impugned orders are quashed and set aside.

-4- (B) Respondent No. 3 shall issue tribe certificate to the Petitioner as belonging to "Koli Mahadev", Scheduled Tribe, which certificate certainly will always be subject to the scrutiny in the validation proceedings.

(C) Writ Petition allowed, accordingly. Rule made absolute in above terms. No costs.

( V. K. JADHAV, J.) ( S. V. GANGAPURWALA, J. ) rlj/