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Copy of the extract of births/deaths register issued in favour of the female 6.1.1920 child born to Rajaram Sadashiv Halbi / 2 P-13 Halba, Sarmaspura, the grand father of 8.1.1920 the petitioner by the Municipal Council, Achalpur.

Copy of the extract of births/deaths register issued in favour of the female 3 25.6.1925 P-14 child born to Sadashiv Fakirji Halbi / Halba, grand father of the petitioner.

19. It is a matter well settled that the presidential order of 1950 is to be read as it is and wherein 'Halba' and 'Halbi' are mentioned as different Scheduled Tribes. It is relevant to point out that the tribe 'Halba' was a singular entry at serial no. 13 in part IV of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, which was issued by the Hon'ble President of Indian in exercise of powers under Article 342 (1) of the Constitution, for the State of Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, by way of an amendment i.e. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1956, which come into force with effect from 25.09.1956, Part IV of the Schedule for the State of Madhya Pradesh was amended by replacing entry No. 13 'Halba' with entry 13 'Halba or Halbi'. Thereafter, by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 with effect from 18.09.1976, the Schedule IX came to be amended by deleting the original Entry 13 and inserting Entry 19 as 'Halba, Halbi' for the State of Maharashtra pursuant to the States Reorganization Act. Therefore, the fact remains that entry no. 19 in Schedule IX for the State of Maharashtra of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, stood amended as Entry No. 19 'Halba, Halbi'.
20. The punctuation mark COMMA (,) was inserted between the two Tribes 'Halba and Halbi', in Entry No. 19 Part IX in the second schedule of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 with effect from 18.09.1976. The importance of the said punctuation mark found in presidential entries and the relevance thereof is no more res-integra and as held by Full Bench of this Court in Maroti s/o Vyankati Gaikwad and others Vs. Deputy Director and Member Secretary, Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Amravati and others, reported in 2023 MhLJ Online 130, the punctuation mark COMMA (,) occurring in the name of each tribe, functions as a tool to indicate to readers a certain separation of words, phrases or ideas in order to prevent misleading the writer's intended meaning. This is also considered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the State of Maharashtra and others vs. mana Adim Jamat Mandal, reported in 2006 (3) Mh.L.J. (S.C.) 407 in which it has been held that the punctuation mark COMMA (,) between one entry and another in the group signifies that each one of them is deemed to be a separate Scheduled Tribe itself. From the authoritative judicial pronouncement of the Full Bench of this Court and the Hon'ble Apex Court referred supra, it is clear that the entries "Halba and Halbi" though separated by punctuation mark COMMA (,) are not synonyms with each other and they are separate and distinct.

29. If these oldest documents having more probative value are perused they being of pre-constitutional era and before the notification of the Hon'ble President, it can safely be inferred that even though the petitioner has failed to prove is caste 'Halba', there was ample material on record to show that he belongs to caste 'Halbi'. As stated above and in the light of these judgments referred to supra, since the entries 'Halba' and 'Halbi' found a place in the same column, therefore, admittedly the person like petitioner would not derive any additional advantage or benefit by being described as 'Halba' instead of 'Halbi' as they are on the same pedestal. Thus, by taking into consideration all these aspect we are of the following opinion that the petitioner has proved his caste to be 'Halbi' and not 'Halba'. We therefore, pass the following order :-