Gunaji Janu Dhawade v. Grievance Redressal Committee And ORS

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 17700 OF 2024 Gunaji Janu Dhawade

...Petitioner

Versus

Grievance Redressal Committee And Ors

...Respondents

Mr. P.G. Parkar, for the Petitioner.

Mr. Nishigandh N. Patil, for Respondent Nos.1 & 2. Ms. Sulbha Chipade, AGP for Respondent-State.

CORAM

: SOMASEKHAR SUNDARESAN, J.

DATE : March 4, 2026 ORDER :

1.

This Petition impugns an order dated July 26, 2024, by which an Appeal against the order dated November 13, 2021, was rejected. The Petitioner's prime grievance is that the stipulated documents which evidence his residence in the subject slum unit, along with his photo pass, record his name as Janu Gunaji Dhawade, whereas in the receipt of the cooperative housing society, his name is shown as Gunaji Janu Dhawade.

2.

Documents forming part of the record indicate, for example, ASHWINI JANARDAN VALLAKATI that the electricity bill and the ration card all contained his name in ASHWINI JANARDAN VALLAKATI Date: 2026.03.10 11:47:15 +0530

varying combinations; in the ration card, his name is shown as Dhawade Gunaji Janu, whereas in the electricity bill his name is shown as Gunaji Janu Dhawade, as is the case with the receipt issued by the cooperative society.

3.

In these circumstances, having heard the parties, it would be appropriate to remand the matter to the Additional Collector, i.e. Respondent No.2, to establish the identity of the Petitioner and ensure that he is not denied the statutory benefits due to him merely in view of the combination in which his name is contained in the records. It is also stated by the Petitioner that, throughout the proceedings before the Additional Collector, he had no notice of the conduct of the proceedings, which stance is consistent with the order dated November 13, 2021 which indicates that the parties were absent throughout the proceedings before the Learned Additional Collector.

4.

Therefore, the matter is remanded to the Learned Additional Collector, requesting him to examine the matter afresh and consider the records produced by the Petitioner, establish his identity and grant him his statutory benefits once the variation in name combinations are reconciled.

5.

With the aforesaid directions, the Petition is disposed of, remanding the matter to Respondent No.2, and requesting Respondent No. 2 to examine all available records and fix a date for hearing the Petitioner, to enable him to identify himself and establish that the variation in combination of how his name is spelled does not lead to an avoidable denial of his statutory rights.

6.

This Petition is finally disposed of in the aforesaid terms. 7.

All actions required to be taken pursuant to this order shall be taken upon receipt of a downloaded copy as available on this Court's website.

[ SOMASEKHAR SUNDARESAN, J.]