Case Note & Summary
The petitioners, real brothers Amit Ganesh Thakur and Sumit Ganesh Thakur, claimed to belong to the Thakur Scheduled Tribe and sought admission to Engineering Degree Courses under the reserved category. They obtained caste certificates and their claim was referred to the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nandurbar for verification. In support, they relied on school records of their grandfather and cousin grandfather from 1951 and 1968 showing caste as Thakur, and a caste validity certificate issued to their paternal uncle, Ganesh Thakur, by the same Committee in 2012. The Scrutiny Committee invalidated their claim, primarily on the ground that the petitioners failed the affinity test and that the oral evidence of their father was not credible. The petitioners challenged this order by way of a writ petition before the Bombay High Court. The High Court held that the Scrutiny Committee had erred in not giving due weight to the caste validity certificate of the paternal uncle, which was a highly relevant piece of evidence. The Court observed that the Committee's reliance on the affinity test and oral evidence, while ignoring documentary evidence including school records and the validity certificate, was unsustainable. The Court set aside the impugned order and directed the Committee to reconsider the matter afresh, giving due consideration to the validity certificate and other documents, and to pass a reasoned order within four weeks. The Court also directed that the petitioners' admissions in the colleges be protected until the fresh decision.
Headnote
A) Scheduled Tribes - Caste Validity Certificate - Probative Value - Caste validity certificate issued to a close blood relative (paternal uncle) is a highly relevant and material piece of evidence that must be given due weight by the Scrutiny Committee - The Committee's failure to consider such certificate and its reliance on affinity test and oral evidence without proper reasoning is unsustainable - Held that the Committee ought to have given due credence to the validity certificate of the paternal uncle (Paras 7-10). B) Scheduled Tribes - Scrutiny Committee - Affinity Test - The affinity test cannot be the sole basis to reject a caste claim when there is documentary evidence including school records and caste validity certificates of relatives - The Committee must conduct a holistic evaluation of all evidence - Held that the Committee's approach was flawed (Paras 8-10). C) Scheduled Tribes - Thakur Tribe - Documentary Evidence - School records of the petitioners' grandfather and cousin grandfather from 1951 and 1968 showing caste as Thakur constitute contemporaneous evidence supporting the claim - Such documents cannot be ignored - Held that the Committee erred in disregarding these documents (Paras 4, 8).
Issue of Consideration
Whether the Scheduled Tribe Scrutiny Committee was justified in invalidating the petitioners' claim of belonging to Thakur Scheduled Tribe despite the existence of a caste validity certificate issued to their paternal uncle and other contemporaneous documents.
Final Decision
The High Court allowed the writ petition, set aside the impugned order dated 26th June 2018, and directed the Scrutiny Committee to reconsider the matter afresh, giving due consideration to the caste validity certificate of the petitioners' paternal uncle and other documents, and to pass a reasoned order within four weeks. The Court also directed that the petitioners' admissions in the colleges be protected until the fresh decision.
Law Points
- Caste claim
- Scheduled Tribe
- Thakur
- validity certificate
- scrutiny committee
- probative value
- family tree
- affinity test
- oral evidence
- documentary evidence
