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12. We may also refer to the evidence of the respondent's witnesses hailing from the village Mohtli. RW-1 Yash Pal, respondent's elder brother, examined as RW-1 stated that he and respondent are Lohars by occupation. He also stated that Basaba Ram and Nasib Chand who are related to him were also Lohars by 'occupation'. In his cross-examination, he stated that his father Milkhi Ram had five children (three sons and two daughters), that the respondent was the youngest, that his grandfather's name was Gopi, that he and respondent studied in the village school, and that respondent was carrying on the business of scooter repairs. Tilak Raj examined as RW-4 stated that respondent, and his relations Khazana Ram and Basaba Ram were Lohar by caste as they were doing the job of Lohars. Ved Prakash (RW-6) stated that respondent and his brothers as also Basaba Ram and Khazana Ram worked as Lohars and were, therefore, belonged to Lohar caste. He admitted that he was elected as the Pradhan and respondent was elected as Up Pradhan of Mohtli Gram Panchayat in the year 1990 that both belonged to congress party. He also admitted that gram panchayat maintained a register known as Pariwar Register, that Pradhan of the gram panchayat was the overall custodian of all records and that the details of all families residing in the panchayat areas including names, age, address, caste etc., are recorded in the said register. He admitted that in the Ex.PW4/A, the Pariwar Register relating to the year 1976, the caste of respondent and his family had been shown as Tarkhan and that then corrected as 'Lohar'. Ram Singh (RW-

17. Ex.PW-4/A, Ex.PW-4/B, Ex.PW-4/C and Ex.PW-4/D are the Pariwar Register of Mohtli Village for the years 1976, 1977, 1982-89 and 1990 onwards. The said register is maintained as required by the relevant rules relating to Gram Sabhas. In Ex.PW-4/A relating to the year 1976, the family of Yash Pal is shown as consisting of Yash Pal, his wife Prem Lata, daughter Guddi and brother Bodh Raj. Under the column 'whether scheduled caste or scheduled tribe', the caste is entered as 'Tarkhan', which is struck off and substituted by the word 'Lohar' without any attestation regarding correction. In Ex.PW-4/B is the pariwar register relating to the year 1977, the entry relating to Sat Pal and his family shows that his family consisted of himself, his wife Kamlesh, his brothers Yash Pal and Bodh Raj and his children Asha, Nirasha and Sushil Kumar. Under the column 'whether scheduled caste or scheduled tribe', the caste is entered as 'Tarkhan' which is struck off and substituted by the words 'Lohar' without any attestation regarding correction. In Ex.PW-4/C which is the Pariwar register for the year 1982- 1989, the entry regarding the family of Sat Pal shows the family as consisting of himself, his wife Kamlesh, his children Asha, Nirasha and Sushil Kumar, his brother Yash Pal and his wife Prem Lata and child Guddi and another brother Bodh Raj. Here again, under the column 'whether scheduled caste or scheduled tribe', the entry is 'Tarkhan' which is struck off and substituted by the word 'Lohar' without any attestation regarding the correction. Ex.PW-4/D is the Pariwar register for the year 1990 onwards and in this register, the family of Bodh Raj is shows as consisting of himself, his wife Kunti Devi and children Rajiv Kumar and Pankaj Kumar and under the column 'whether scheduled caste or schedule tribe', the caste is shown as 'Lohar'.

24. In pursuance of summons issued by the court, Chunni Lal, the Panchayat Secretary of Gram Panchayat, Mohtli (PW-4) produced the Pariwar register prepared and maintained as required under the Rules relating to Gram Sabhas. The pariwar registers for the years 1976, 1977, 1982 to 1989 and 1990 onwards were produced as Exs.PW-4/A, PW-4/B, PW-4/C and PW-4/D. In Ex.PW-4/A, Bodh Raj was shown as family member of elder brother Yash Pal. In Exs.PW-4/B and PW-4/C, he was shown as a family member of elder brother Sat Pal. In all these registers, the family was shown as of Tarkhan caste. Against the column 'whether scheduled caste or scheduled tribe', the entry was 'Tarkhan' which was struck off and substituted by the entry Lohar. The correction was not attested. On the other hand, Ex.PW-4/D relating to the period of 1990 onwards showed the respondent himself as the head of his family and his caste as Lohar. RW-6, Ved Prakash, was the Pradhan of the Mohtli Gram Panchayat elected for two terms in 1985 and 1990. He also had admitted that the gram Sabha was maintaining a pariwar register containing the details of all families residing in the panchayat area including their ages, occupations, castes etc. The suggestion put by respondent (RW-5) and Ved Prakash [RW6] (Pradhan during 1985-1995 and elected in 1990) was that when respondent became the Up-Pradhan of the Mohtli Gram Panchayat in 1990, he managed to get the entries in Exs.PW-4/A, PW-4/B, and PW-4/C, relating to caste namely 'Tarkhan' struck off and substituted the word 'Lohar'. The suggestion of course was denied. If the substitution was with reference to the entry in only one register, it could have been explained away as a mistake. But it is significant that the registers of the years 1976, 1977 and 1982-1989 all show the caste of the family as 'Tarkhan' and all the entries are struck off and substituted by the word 'Lohar'. The High Court has refused to rely on Ex. PW4/A, B, C only on the ground that the entries in the register contained some other corrections and that the manner in which they were maintained raised a doubt about the probative value of the document. We are of the view that in the absence of any satisfactory explanation of the caste 'Tarkhan' being struck off and substituted by 'Lohar', the conclusion is that they were all done subsequent to 1990 when respondent became the Up-Pradhan.

26. The Learned counsel for the respondent submitted that in view of Ex. PW4/D and Ex.RW-5A, he should be considered as having established that he belongs to Lohar caste. Ex. PW-4/D is the Pariwar Register extract for the year 1990 onwards. The same no doubt shows the caste of respondent as Lohar. But when Ex.PW-4/D is read in conjunction with PW-4/A, PW-4/B and PW-4/C which are the Pariwar Register extracts relating to the previous years (1976, 1977 and 1982-1989) where his caste was shown as Tarkhan and later altered as 'Lohar', the entry in Ex.PW-4/D becomes a self serving statement. The respondent was elected as the Upapradhan of Mohtli Gram Panchayat in the year 1990 (RW-6, Ved Prakash, belonging to his party was elected as Pradhan). In his capacity as Upapradhan he had access to the records of the Panchayat, and it is obvious that with the intention of representing himself as belonging to a Scheduled Caste of Lohar, had ensured that his caste was shown as Lohar in PW-4/D. The alteration of the entries relating to caste in Exs.PW4/A, 4/B and 4/C, from 'Tarkhan' to 'Lohar' should be looked at in this background, particularly when it is seen that the correction of caste by striking out 'Tarkhan' is not only in regard to the family of respondent but also in the case of some of the relatives of the respondent. In so far as the caste certificate Ex.RW-5/A issued by the Executive Magistrate, Indora, relied on by respondent, it has to be observed that such caste certificates are not given after a thorough investigation. When the caste of respondent is in issue and when primary evidence regarding caste is led by appellant, and the attempt of respondent to claim to be a 'Lohar' from 1990 is evident, the caste certificate issued by the Executive Magistrate on 1.12.1991 cannot be taken as evidence to prove the caste of the respondent. The decision of this Court in R. Palanimuthu vs. Returning Officer [1984 (Supp.) SCC 77], supports this position. In Madhuri Patil (supra), this court observed that when the school records show a particular caste, the caste certificates issued to the candidates and his relatives by the Executive Magistrate showing a different caste should be ignored. Reference was also made to the caste certificate of two relatives. But they are also of the period subsequent to 1990 when respondent started showing that he belonged to Lohar caste. They have to be ignored as observed by this Court in Madhuri Patil (supra).