Case Note & Summary
The petitioners, Shaikh Mohammad Haroon and Shaikh Banu Begum, filed two separate writ petitions before the Bombay High Court, Aurangabad Bench, seeking a direction for expeditious disposal of their caste verification proposals. Both petitioners claimed to belong to the Julaha caste, which is included in the Other Backward Category (OBC). They had submitted their caste certificates for verification to Respondent No.2, the Scheduled Caste, VJ, NT, OBC and SBC Certificate Verification Committee No.2, Latur Division. The Committee, upon receipt of the proposals, called for a vigilance cell report. Subsequently, as District Level Committees were constituted for verification of caste claims, and the petitioners were desirous of contesting elections to the local body, their pending proposals were forwarded to Respondent No.3, the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, Hingoli. According to the petitioners, the proposals remained pending with the District Level Committee without any decision. The petitioners approached the High Court seeking a writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to decide their caste verification proposals expeditiously. The court, after hearing the parties, noted that the proposals were pending and that the petitioners intended to contest local body elections. The court relied on a Division Bench decision of the Bombay High Court in Shri Mangesh Nivrutti Kashid vs. The District Collector, Satara, 2012 (5) ALL MR, which held that pending proposals for verification of caste certificates ought to be decided expeditiously. Accordingly, the court directed Respondent No.3, the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, Hingoli, to decide the proposals for verification of caste certificates of the petitioners within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the order. The court also directed that the petitioners shall appear before the Committee on a specified date. The writ petitions were disposed of with these directions.
Headnote
A) Caste Verification - OBC Certificate - Expeditious Disposal - Petitioners claimed Julaha caste (OBC) and sought verification of caste certificates for contesting local body elections - Proposals forwarded to District Level Committee remained pending - Court directed the Committee to decide the proposals within four weeks - Held that pending proposals for verification of caste certificates ought to be decided expeditiously, especially when the petitioners intend to contest elections (Paras 1-5).
Issue of Consideration
Whether the caste verification proposals of the petitioners, pending before the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, should be decided expeditiously in view of their desire to contest local body elections.
Final Decision
The court directed Respondent No.3, the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, Hingoli, to decide the proposals for verification of caste certificates of the petitioners within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the order. The petitioners were directed to appear before the Committee on 22-04-2013. The writ petitions were disposed of accordingly.
Law Points
- Caste verification
- OBC certificate
- expeditious disposal
- local body elections
- pending proposals
Case Details
2013 LawText (BOM) (04) 1
Writ Petition No. 2506 of 2013 and Writ Petition No. 2508 of 2013
R.M. Borde, Sunil P. Deshmukh
Shri S. M. Vibhute for Petitioners, Shri R.P. Phatake (AGP) for Respondents in WP 2506/13, Shri N.B. Patil (AGP) for Respondents in WP 2508/13
Shaikh Mohammad Haroon s/o Mohammad Yaseen and Shaikh Banu Begum d/o Shaikh Ibrahim
The State of Maharashtra, The Scheduled Caste, VJ, NT, OBC and SBC Certificate Verification Committee No.2, Latur, and The Collector, Hingoli
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Nature of Litigation
Writ petition seeking direction for expeditious disposal of caste verification proposals.
Remedy Sought
Petitioners sought a writ of mandamus directing respondents to decide their caste verification proposals expeditiously.
Filing Reason
The caste verification proposals of the petitioners were pending before the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, causing delay in their ability to contest local body elections.
Previous Decisions
The proposals were initially forwarded to Respondent No.2 Committee, which called for a vigilance cell report. Later, the proposals were forwarded to Respondent No.3 District Level Committee, where they remained pending.
Issues
Whether the caste verification proposals of the petitioners should be decided expeditiously in view of their intention to contest local body elections.
Submissions/Arguments
Petitioners argued that their caste verification proposals were pending before the District Level Committee and no decision had been taken, which was causing prejudice as they intended to contest local body elections.
Respondents did not oppose the prayer for expeditious disposal.
Ratio Decidendi
Pending proposals for verification of caste certificates ought to be decided expeditiously, especially when the petitioners intend to contest elections to the local body, as held in Shri Mangesh Nivrutti Kashid vs. The District Collector, Satara.
Judgment Excerpts
Both the petitioners claim that they belong to Julaha caste which is included in Other Backward Category.
The proposals for verification of caste of the petitioners were forwarded at their instance to Respondent No.2-Committee.
According to the petitioners, proposals for verification of their caste certificates forwarded to the District Level Committee are still pending with said committee and no decision as yet, has been arrived at.
The Division Bench of this Court at Bombay in the matter of Shri Mangesh Nivrutti Kashid vs. The District Collector, Satara, 2012 (5) ALL MR, has held that pending proposals for verification of caste certificates ought to be decided expeditiously.
In view of the above, we direct Respondent No.3-District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, Hingoli, to decide the proposals for verification of caste certificates of the petitioners within a period of four weeks from today.
Procedural History
The petitioners submitted their caste certificates for verification to Respondent No.2 Committee. The Committee called for a vigilance cell report. Subsequently, the proposals were forwarded to Respondent No.3 District Level Committee. The proposals remained pending. The petitioners then filed the present writ petitions seeking expeditious disposal.
