The Bombay High Court while allowing a petition has reiterated that if there is conclusive evidence in existence, establishing the veracity or validity of a tribal certificate issued to a blood relative of the applicant not as a result of some fraud or misrepresentation on the part of the certificate holders, then the competent authority cannot deny granting the same to the applicant.

“…we find that a material error has been committed by the Scrutiny Committee in ignoring the validity certificates issued to the blood relatives of the petitioner from the paternal side and failing to take into account their probative value”, observed a bench of Justice Sunil B Shukre and Justice Jitendra Jain in the matter.

Advocate R.K. Mendadkar appeared for the petitioner and GP P.P. Kakade, and AGP P.V. Nelson Rajan appeared for the respondents.

In the present case, the petitioner claiming to be belonging to Thakur, Scheduled Tribe had obtained a tribal certificate from the Competent Authority.

However, when the Scrutiny Committee upon inquiring the validity found that the claim of petitioner was not sustainable in law and accordingly through an order dated October 5, 2006 invalidated the claim and passed consequential directions regarding cancellation and confiscation of the certificate. The same was challenged in the petition.

Therefore, the bench considering the averments made and materials placed on record, ruled in favor of the petitioner, and further directed the Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee to issue validity certificate to the petitioner within two weeks.

The bench placed reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Mah. Aadiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti v. State of Maharashtra & Ors 2023 SCC Online SC 326.

In Mah Adiwasi case, the Court had observed that when the Scrutiny Committee is satisfied that the person in whose favour validity certificate has been issued, is a blood relative of the applicant and a lawful enquiry has been conducted before issuing validity certificate, the Scrutiny Committee would have to issue validity certificate even if the applicant does not satisfy the affinity test.

Thus in the present matter, bench noted that:

- there is no dispute about relationship between the petitioner and the persons in whose favour validity certificates have been issued where one of those persons is the father of the petitioner, who was granted on April 16, 2004;

- while ignoring those validity certificates, no finding has been recorded by the present Scrutiny Committee against the father’s certificate;

- no notice seeking cancellation of the validity certificates was issued to the paternal relatives of the petitioner.

“… If this is so, there was no reason for the Scrutiny Committee to have discarded these validity certificates. In our opinion, on the backdrop of the admitted facts, these validity certificates constitute conclusive proof of the social status of the persons to whom those validity certificates have been issued”, the judgment further read.

Cause Title: Monali Suresh Deore v. State of Maharashtra and Ors.

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Justice Sunil B. ShukreJustice Jitendra Jain

Agatha Shukla