Bombay High Court
Ku. Shahnaz Parveen Gulam Rasul/ Sou. ... vs Dist. Caste Certificate Scrutiny ... on 7 December, 2018
Author: Vinay Joshi
Bench: R.K. Deshpande, Vinay Joshi
Judgment wp7684.18
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION NO. 7684 OF 2018.
Ku. Shahnaz Parveen Gulam Rasul/
Sou. Shahnaz Parveen Mohd. Rais,
Aged about 33 years, Occupation-
Sarpanch, Resident of Gharoda,
Taluq Khamgaon, District Buldhana. ... PETITIONER.
VERSUS
1. District Caste Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, through its Member
Secretary, Collector Office,
Administrative Building, 2nd Floor,
Akola.
2. The Collector, Buldhana.
3. The Secretary,
Gram Panchayat, Gharoda, Tq. Khamgaon,
District Buldhana.
4. The Tahsildar,
Khamgaon, District Buldhana. ... RESPONDENTS.
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Shri V.R. Choudhary, Advocate for the Petitioner.
Shri N.R. Rode, A.G.P. for Respondent Nos.1, 2 and 4.
Respondent No.3 Served.
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CORAM : R.K. DESHPANDE &
VINAY JOSHI, JJ.
Closed for Judgment : 04.12.2018.
Judgment Pronounced on : 07.12.2018.
JUDGMENT (Per - Vinay Joshi, J.) :
Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally by consent of learned Counsel appearing for the parties.
2. Challenge in this Writ Petition is to an order dated 22.10.2018, passed by the District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Akola, by which the petitioners' caste claim belonging to "Momin" caste which is recognized as Other Backward Class, notified at Entry No. 191 in the list of Other Backward Class in the State of Maharashtra,has been rejected.
3. Petitioner lady had contested the election for the post of Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat, Gharoda, Taluq Khamgaon, District Buldhana, from a seat reserved for Other Backward Class candidate. The petitioner got elected for said post. The petitioner submitted caste certificate issued to her on 28.11.2017, by the Sub Divisional Officer, Balapur. Thereafter, she applied to the District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Akola for grant of validity ::: Uploaded on - 11/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2018 09:07:51 ::: Judgment wp7684.18 3 certificate. The petitioner has tendered necessary documents in support of her caste claim.
4. Petitioner has produced several documents, particularly a document of pre-independence era i.e. of the year 1909 in respect of her great grand father, to substantiate the genuineness of her caste claim. After receipt of the Police Vigilance Cell report she had furnished her explanation before the Committee, however, the Committee by the impugned order has invalidated her caste claim by a fractured verdict. The President of the Committee held that the petitioner has established her caste as "Momim", however, rest of the two members of the Committee, held that petitioner failed to establish her caste claim and accordingly by applying rule of majority, petitioners' caste claim was rejected.
5. On perusal of record, it reveals that petitioner has produced in all 13 documents in support of her caste claim to the Scrutiny Committee. The petitioner has mainly relied on the pre- independence document i.e. extract of Kotwal Book of her great grand father and two caste validity certificates already issued in favour of her cousin sisters. The Scrutiny Committee has called for the vigilance cell report, which was submitted on the basis of investigation and inquiry.
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6. The Committee while rejecting the caste claim has not recorded any substantial reasons by its majority members. Precisely it was expressed by majority members that the petitioner has failed to establish her relationship with Gulam Rasool Shaikh Bilal. As against this, after verification of documents and by relying on the documents of pre-independence era pertaining to great grand father of petitioner, the President expressed that the petitioner has established her caste claim.
7. Apart from the cryptic reasons recorded by the Committee, we have gone through the documents which are tendered by the petitioner before the Committee in support of her caste claim. The petitioner has heavily relied on the extract of Kotwal book entry of her great grand father Shaikh Lal, who is referred as Momim, along with religion Muslim.
8. Contextually, we have gone through the vigilance cell report, in which there is a reference of said document of the year 1909 with a remark that the said entry bearing reference of caste as Momim has been found in original record. The petitioner has produced the caste validity certificates issued to her cousin sisters namely - Suraiya Bano Abdul Ghafoor which was issued by the ::: Uploaded on - 11/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2018 09:07:51 ::: Judgment wp7684.18 5 District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Akola on 29.09.2011. Likewise, she has produced caste validity certificate issued by the same Committee at Akola in the name of another cousin sister of petitioner namely Naghma Tabassum Naseer Ahmad on 27.10.2016, showing her caste as "Momim" which is at entry no.191. This Court in its reported case of Apoorva Vinay Nichale .vrs. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee and others (2010 (6) Mh.,L.J. 401, ruled that if caste claim of blood relative of a candidate has been accepted by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, in past, then the candidates' caste claim shall be allowed without insisting on any other proof. These observations would also assist the petitioner since she has produced caste validity certificates in respect of her two cousin sisters.
9. It needs to be referred that neither the Vigilance Cell, nor the Committee has doubted genuineness of the documents pertaining to pre-independence era, nor had challenged the issuance of the caste validity certificates in favour of petitioners cousin sisters. The Vigilance Cell during home inquiry recorded statement of witness Yakub Sheikh Lal and Kashiram Dudhajji Tayade, who stated that the petitioner belongs to Momim caste. All these documents and particularly, the documents of pre-independence era ::: Uploaded on - 11/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2018 09:07:51 ::: Judgment wp7684.18 6 which is having high probative value, clearly spells that the petitioner belongs to Momin caste. The committee has not considered the said material in its true perspective, but, for perfunctory reasons rejected the claim of petitioner.
10. It is not the stand of Committee that the petitioner either failed to establish the affinity test or old documents are false one. In short the documents placed on record having high probative value and caste validity certificates of petitioners' relative clearly indicates the caste of petitioner as Momin. We do not find any valid reason to discard the claim of petitioner, and therefore, hold that the petitioner has duly established her caste claim as belonging to Momin caste which is at entry at Sr.No.191.
11. In the result, we pass the following order.
(i) Writ Petition is accordingly allowed.
(ii) The order passed by the District Caste Scrutiny
Committee, Akola on 22.10.2018, impugned in this
petition, is hereby quashed and set aside.
(iii) It is declared that petitioner has established her claim
for "Momin - Other Backward Class" which is entry No.191 in the List of Other Backward Class in the State ::: Uploaded on - 11/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2018 09:07:51 ::: Judgment wp7684.18 7 of Maharashtra. Respondent Scrutiny Committee is accordingly, directed to issue validity certificate in her name, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of this order.
(iv) Petitioner would be entitled to all the benefits of Other Backward Class category.
12. Rule is made absolute in aforesaid terms, with no order as to cost.
JUDGE JUDGE
13. After pronouncement of the judgment and during the course of signing this judgment, Shri Choudhary, the learned Counsel for the petitioner left. This amounts to showing disrespect. We therefore, impose cost of Rs.1000/- upon him, to be paid to the High Court Bar Association, Nagpur.
JUDGE JUDGE
Rgd.
.
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