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Showing contexts for: caste correction in Santosh Kumari & Ors vs Ut Of J&K & Ors on 19 September, 2025Matching Fragments
1. The petitioners, through the medium of the present petition, have challenged two separate orders dated 12.03.2022 passed by respondent No. 6 whereby caste certificates issued in favour of the petitioners No. 1 and 2 have been cancelled. Challenge has also been thrown to order dated 12.03.2022 passed by respondent No. 6 whereby order dated 01.04.2015 in respect of mutation No. 226 sehat qom/correction of caste has been set aside. Besides this, the petitioners have challenged orders dated 12.04.2022 and 10.05.2022 passed by respondent No. 6 whereby petitioners No. 1 and 2 have been disqualified as Sarpanch/Panch for Panchayat Halqa, Bhajnowa (SC), tehsil Nowshera district Rajouri. Further direction upon respondents to allow the petitioners No. 1 and 2 to function as Sarpanch/Panch for the aforesaid Panchayat Halqa has also been sought.
13. On the basis of aforesaid contentions, it is being urged that even on merits, the caste certificates issued in favour of the petitioners could not have been cancelled and the consequent disqualification orders issued against petitioners No. 1 and 2 and quashment of sehat qom/correction of caste order in respect of petitioners No. 2 and 3 could not have been passed.
14. The writ petition has been contested by the official respondents as well as by respondent No. 8 by filing separate replies to the same. In the reply filed by the official respondents, it has been submitted that as per revenue record, the caste of the petitioners has been recorded as 'Vashisht Rajput' and, as such, they were not eligible for Scheduled Caste certificates. It has been submitted that persons belonging to 'Vashisht Rajput' are not included in Scheduled Castes and because the petitioners belong to 'Vashisht Rajput' community, the certificates issued in their favour are fake and the same have been rightly cancelled by respondent No. 6. It has been further submitted that once the Scheduled Caste certificates issued in favour of the petitioners No. 1 and 2 were cancelled, the natural consequence thereof was that they stood disqualified from holding the position of Sarpanch/Panch in respect of a constituency, which was reserved for Scheduled Castes.
29. Since there is nothing on record to show that respondent No. 6-Additonal Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri had been conferred the powers of appellate authority in terms of Section 17 of the Act of 2004, therefore, the impugned orders passed by the said respondent whereby the caste certificates issued in favour of the petitioners No. 1 and 2 have been cancelled are without jurisdiction and hence liable to be set aside.
30. Respondent No. 6 has also passed impugned order dated 12.03.2022 thereby setting aside mutation No. 226 regarding correction of caste of the petitioners No. 2 and 3 in his capacity as Collector, which jurisdiction is vested with him. The challenge to the said order is to be determined on its merits.
40. Once the orders relating to cancellation of caste certificates in favour of petitioners No. 1 and 2 become unsustainable in law, the consequent orders, disqualifying them from holding the position of Sarpanch/Panch in a constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste community, cannot stand. The same are also, therefore, liable to be set aside.
41. For the foregoing reasons, the writ petition is allowed and the impugned orders dated 12.03.2022 passed by respondent No. 6 whereby caste certificates in favour of the petitioners No. 1 and 2 have been cancelled and mutation of sehat qom/correction of caste in favour of the petitioners No. 2 and 3 have been set aside, are quashed. Orders dated 12.04.2022 and 10.05.2022 whereby petitioners No. 1 and 2 respectively have been disqualified as Sarpanch/Panch for Panchayat Halqa Bhajnowa (Scheduled Caste), tehsil Nowshera district Rajouri are also quashed and a direction is issued to the official respondents to allow the petitioners No. 1 and 2 to perform their duties as Sarpanch/Panch respectively for the aforesaid constituency provided the term of the Panchayat has not come to an end.