Patna High Court
Pankaj Kumar Basak vs The State Of Bihar & Ors on 22 February, 2016
Author: Kishore Kumar Mandal
Bench: Kishore Kumar Mandal
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.10973 of 2015
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1. Pankaj Kumar Basak Son of Sri Damodar Prasad Basak Resident of village -
Beni Bahadurganj, P.O. and P.S. Bahadurganj, District - Kishanganj
.... .... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Department of General
Administration, Government of Bihar, Patna
2. The Principal Secretary, Department of General Administration, Government of
Bihar, Patna
3. The Additional Secretary, Department of General Administration, Government
of Bihar, Patna
4. The District Magistrate, Kishanganj, Bihar
5. The Sub - Divisional officer, Kishanganj, District - Kishanganj
6. The Block Development Officer, Bahadurganj, P.S. Bahadurganj, District -
Kishanganj
7. The Circle Officer, Bahadurganj, P.S. Bahadurganj, District - Kishanganj
8. The Inspector General of Police, Weaker Section, CID, Government of Bihar,
Patna
.... .... Respondent/s
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Appearance
Counsel for the petitioner : Mr. Shashi Anugrah Narain, Sr. Advocate
Mr. Vinay Krishna Tripathy
Counsel for the State : Mr. Vivek Anand Amritesh, A.C. to G.P.-21
Mr. Sharda Nand Mishra
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KISHORE KUMAR MANDAL
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date: 22-02-2016
Heard Mr. S.A. Narain the senior counsel for the petitioner,
Mr. Vivek Anand Amritesh, AC to GP 21 for the State as also Mr.
Sharda Nand Mishra who has appeared in support of the I.A. No.
6402 of 2015 filed for implealdment as respondent.
The writ application seeks to challenge the finding of the
Scrutiny Committee in the General Administration Department,
Government of Bihar, copy whereof is enclosed at Annexure-49 to
IA No. 179 of 2016. The petitioner was enjoying the status of
Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016
2/8
Scheduled Caste (SC) on being issued a caste certificate of
Chaupal. Chaupal is a Scheduled Caste notified by the Central
Government under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Order (Amendment Act 1976). It is stated that many of the family
members of the petitioner have been issued the caste certificate of
„Chaupal‟ by the Block Development Officer as well as the Sub-
Divisional Officer. In the case of the petitioner such certificate was
issued in the year 1996 by the Block Development Officer and
subsequently by the Sub-Divisional Officer on 02.06.1998. He was
required to produce the caste certificate in the prescribed form for
appearing at the examination conducted by the Union Public
Service Commission. The Officer at the lower level recommended
for grant of such caste certificate of „Chaupal‟ which however
could not be issued. An order was passed by the Sub-Divisional
Officer on 3.01.2012 to issue the caste certificate but after
verification of the revenue records etc. which were furnished by the
petitioner. Since the caste certificate was not issued even thereafter
he filed CWJC No. 2313 of 2011. During pendency of the writ
application, the Block Development Officer refused to issue the
caste certificate of „Chaupal‟(SC). The aforesaid writ application
was heard and disposed on 14.03.2011. The relevant observation
of this Court in the said Order dated 14.03.2011 (Annexure-4) is
Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016
3/8
extracted herein:
"If the caste certificate of the petitioner's
father/petitioner is proposed to be cancelled
after such enquiry, the Secretary, Department of
Personnel and Administration, Government of
Bihar, shall himself simultaneously examine the
original file which may have dealt with the
matters at the District level after which the
earlier caste certificates had been issued. The
Secretary shall then ensure that a First
Information Report is lodged along with
necessary departmental action initiated against
all concerned government servants who may
have dealt with the file, whosoever they may,
and then only shall the order for cancellation of
the certificates be issued."
An inquiry, thereafter, ensued in which the father of the
petitioner appeared and produced paper(s) including revenue
documents. The petitioner was also called upon to submit evidence
before the Sub-Divisional Officer which was filed. It is stated that
a two Men Committee was constituted by the Sub-Divisional
Officer to enquire into the caste status of the petitioner. The two
Men Committee without affording any opportunity to the petitioner
came to the conclusion that the petitioner belongs to „Taanti‟ caste.
The said report was forwarded by the respondent Sub-Divisional
Officer to the District-Magistrate for taking appropriate
decision/action. The District Magistrate, in his turn, forwarded all
documents/communications to the Government in the Department
of General Administration. The matters remained pending.
Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016
4/8
Apprehending cancellation of his caste status/certificate, the
petitioner filed C.W.J.C. No. 25634 of 2013. In the meantime, the
General Administration Department, Government of Bihar called
for certain reports. The petitioner was called upon to submit his
case in the light of the inquiry report which was made available to
him. A detailed show-cause was filed showing the fallacies in the
report. In consideration of the materials placed before the Scrutiny
Committee, the impugned order was passed and communicated to
the petitioner (Annexure-49) clause 11 thereof reads as under:
गए
Ur~ सoZlEer
यह .kZय
izlkn
- iksLV + -
- सद L;
( )
A
( ) गलत
izek.k -iz= izkIr A यह fu.kZ;
( )
सद L; s
एक ek/;e laca/k
A
Mr. Narain has urged that the findings in the impugned order
that the petitioner belongs to Tanti (Paan/Swasi) caste clearly
undermines not only the convincing evidence produced by the
petitioner but also the resolution of the Government issued in the
General and Administrative Department, Government of Bihar, on
Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016
5/8
01.07.2015(Annexure-D to the counter affidavit of respondent nos.
2 & 3). The aforesaid resolution was necessitated on account of the recommendation made to this effect by the State Commission of the Extremely Backward Classes recommending Taanti/Tantwa (appended to the Reservation Act, 1991) to be deleted or taken off from the list of EBC as Basak and Tanti are synonyms of Pan- Swasi having status of scheduled caste and if need be a person entitling to the same be issued certificate of Pan-Swasi caste/sub- caste which has the recognition of Scheduled Caste. The relevant part of the government resolution on which the petitioner has relied is extracted/reproduced herein below:
"vr% jkT; ljdkj us Hkyh&HkkWra h fopkjksi.k fu.kZ; fy;k gS fd fiNMsa oxkZsa ds fy, jkT; vk;ksx dh mi;qZDr lykg ds vkyksd esa fcgkj inksa ,oa lsokvksa dh fjfDr;ksa esa vkj{k.k ¼vuqlwfpr tkfr;ksa] vuqlwfpr tutkfr;ksa ,oa vU; fiNMsa oxksZa ds fy,½ vf/kfu;e 1991 dh vR;Ur fiNMsa oxksZa dh lwph ¼vuwlwph&1½ ds dzekad &33 ij ntZ **rkarh** tkfr dks foyksfir dj fn;k tk; rkfd rkarh ¼rrok½ dks vuwlwfpr tkfr dh lwph esa dzekad&20 ij ntZ iku&Loklh ds lkFk lekos'ku ij vuwlwfpr tkfr dk ykHk fey lds**A lkFk gh] rkarh ¼rrok tkfr dks foyksfir djus ds igys ls bl uke ls fuxZr tkfr izek.k&i=ksa ds vk/kkj ij lqfo/kk izkIr dj jgs yksxksa esa fdlh dks Hkh fdlh rjg dh lqfo/kk ls oafpr ugha fd;k tk;A"
At this stage, it may be noticed that in the meanwhile the respondent no. 6 cancelled the caste certificate of the petitioner Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016 6/8 by his order dated 13.07.2015, Annexure-48 to the I.A. No. 5965 of 2015. The petitioner, has therefore, sought amendment in the prayer portion of the writ petition by the aforesaid interlocutory application to quash the said order also. Annexure-50 enclosed, to reply to the counter affidavit filed by the petitioner is an order passed by the learned Judge of this Court in batch of writ petitions which has relevance in the case. It is apt to extract herein below:
"All the controversies with regard to the status of the petitioners in relation to their caste including cancellation of caste certificates or upholding of such decision by the appellate authority must rest in view of Resolution No. 9532 dated 1st July, 2015, issued by the General Administration Department, Government of Bihar, a copy of which has been annexed as Annexure-35 to the second supplementary affidavit of the petitioner Alok Kumar Basak.
What is of significance is that this notification also indicates that all such persons, who have derived benefit in the past, will continue to do so and the privilege derived therefrom will not be curtailed or taken away.
Keeping in mind the notification noted above, all these writ applications are now required to be allowed.
Respondent authorities will be bound by the notification dated 01.07.2015 with regard to the caste of the petitioners.
It is made clear that all decisions cancelling caste certificate by the impugned orders are set aside since the reasons for cancellation are non est in view of the notification dated 01.07.2015. Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016 7/8 All these writ applications stand allowed."
Even according to the respondents, the petitioner would not be entitled to the caste certificate of „Taanti‟ or „Tantwa‟ as the said caste or sub-caste, no longer exist in the list of EBC. The petitioner, according to the government resolution, is now entitled to a Caste Certificate having status of scheduled caste.
The Scrutiny Committee in the impugned order has found the petitioner belonging to Taanti/Tantwa caste which, as seen above, is not a caste under EBC or any of such category, after the resolution of the Government deleting Taanti/Tantwa from the list of EBCs. What shall be the effect of issuing a fresh caste certificate which shall have the status of the Scheduled Caste category known by whatever name is not the scope of the present writ petition. It is the case of the petitioner that after the resolution of the Government dated 01.07.2015, no such finding that the petitioner belongs to Taanti/Tantwa caste can be issued as the State Government on recommendation by the Commission, deleted those caste/sub-caste from the list of EBC.
It has been argued that „Chaupal‟ is the caste under which different sub-castes like Paan, Swasi, Taanti, Tantwa etc. exists. The Expert Body constituted in this regard, having found so, recommended for exclusion of Taanti/Tantwa from the Patna High Court CWJC No.10973 of 2015 dt.22-02-2016 8/8 list of EBCs. In the aforesaid circumstances, I find substance in the submission of the counsel for the petitioner that the finding recorded by the Scrutiny Committee and communicated to the petitioner under the signature of the respondent Principal Secretary, General Administrative Department, Government of Bihar is fit to be set aside. I order accordingly.
The case of the petitioner for issuance of his caste certificate shall now be considered by the respondents afresh, if a fresh application is made, taking into account, the resolution of the State Government and the Order passed by this Court in CWJC No. 14740 of 2014 and analogous writ cases.
The writ application stands disposed of. All the pending interlocutory applications are also disposed of.
(Kishore Kumar Mandal, J) rohit/-
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