S.Engobar v. The District Collector

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 10-07-2025

CORAM

THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE J. NISHA BANU AND THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE M.JOTHIRAMAN W.P. No. 25105 of 2025 S.Engobar

...Petitioner

..Vs..

1. The District Collector Thiruvanamalai District

2. The Revenue Divisional Officer Thiruvannamalai District.

...Respondents

PRAYER:The Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents to issue community certificate to the petitioner as "Hindu Malaikuravan ST Community" on the basis of the community certificates issued by the 2nd respondent to his close relatives bearing Certificate Nos.365717, 365718, 365712 and 365710 dated 10.10.2014 in the light of G.O(Ms).No.100 dated 27.11.2024 issued by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-I) Department within a stipulated time.

2/6 For Petitioner :

Mr.N.Naganathan For R1 & R2 :

Mr.Vadivel Deenadayalan Additional Government Pleader

ORDER

(Order of the Court was made by J.NISHA BANU, J.) The present Writ Petition is filed for a Mandamus, directing the respondents to issue community certificate to the petitioner as "Hindu Malaikuravan ST Community" on the basis of the community certificates issued by the 2nd respondent to his close relatives bearing Certificate Nos.365717, 365718, 365712 and 365710 dated 10.10.2014 in the light of G.O(Ms).No.100 dated 27.11.2024 issued by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (CV-I) Department within a stipulated time.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that the respondents had been continuously refusing to issue community certificates for the "Malaikkuravan" Schedule Tribe members, by citing the reason that no recommendation was given by the Principal Secretary to Government, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department, Secretariat, Chennai. The Anthropology report was forwarded by the District Adidravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer, Thiruvannamalai to the respondents vide her letter dated 10.09.2014. Subsequently, the District Collector forwarded the government letter to the respondent on 03.06.2020, who in turn communicated it to the Tahsildars on

3/6 06.10.2020. However, the petitioner is still struggling to obtain his community certificate from the respondents.

3. The petitioner once again submitted a fresh application through online on 31.05.2023 and the same was rejected. Subsequently, the petitioner reapplied for the community certificate manually on 31.07.2023 as per the respondent's instructions. As no action was taken by the 2nd respondent, the petitioner filed W.P. No. 27067 of 2023, challenging the rejection order dated 13.06.2023 and the same was allowed on 21.09.2023, directing the respondents to consider the application within a stipulated time. Despite this, the application was again rejected by the 2nd respondent on 18.01.2024. Aggrieved by the rejection, the petitioner submitted an appeal to the 1st respondent on 18.03.2024 and the petitioner had also attended the enquiry, after receipt of summons from the 1st respondent with the relevant documents. Though the appeal is pending since 2024, the 1st respondent has not taken any action to dispose of the appeal, despite the availability of the report dated 23.07.2014. Hence, the present writ petition has been filed.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the appeal filed by the petitioner is pending before the 1st respondent since 2024 and it would suffice if the said appeal is disposed of by the 1st respondent in a time bound manner.

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5. The learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 1 and 2 would submit that a considerable time may be granted to the respondents 1 and 2 to consider the appeal and pass orders thereon.

6. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr.Vadivel Deenadayalan, learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents 1 & 2 and perused the materials placed before this Court.

7. It is seen that on earlier occasion, the petitioner applied for community certificate which was rejected by the 1st respondent. Now, it is stated that the petitioner has filed an appeal against the rejection order passed by the 1st respondent. Hence, we are of the view that it would suffice if the appeal is directed to be dispose of within a time frame. Accordingly, the 1st respondent is directed to dispose of the appeal filed by the petitioner within a period of twelve weeks (12) from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, in accordance with law, after affording an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner and perusing the original documents filed by the petitioner.

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8. With the above directions, this Writ Petition is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.

(J.NISHA BANU J.) (M.JOTHIRAMAN J.) 10.07.2025 Index: Yes/No Internet:Yes/No.

uma To

1. The District Collector Thiruvanamalai District

2. The Revenue Divisional Officer Thiruvannamalai District.

6/6 J.NISHA BANU,J.

AND M.JOTHIRAMAN,J.

uma W.P No.25105 of 2025 10.07.2025