Ranjit Prakash Gaikwad v. State of Maharashtra

2.10. Respondent No.3 - Collector, Pune after hearing the Petitioner in the disqualification proceedings passed order dated 16th July 2021, disqualifying the Petitioner as Member of Grampanchayat Kasar Amboli, Tal. Mulshi due to invalidation of his caste certificate by the Committee.

2.11. Petitioner has impugned both orders dated 9th April 2021 and 16th July 2021 in the present Writ Petition.

3. Mr. Mendadkar, learned Advocate appearing for the Petitioner submitted that the impugned orders be set aside and the matter be remanded back to the Committee for reconsideration. In support thereof, he has submitted as follows: 4 of 18

(i) that the impugned order dated 9th April 2021 passed by the Committee is not sustainable as the Vigilance Cell enquiry has not been conducted as prescribed under Rule 13 of the Maharashtra Schedule Castes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Rules, 2012 (for short "the Rules");

(ii) that Rule 13(e) obligated the Vigilance Cell Officer to personally visit the office of the Tahasildar, Mulshi in order to enquire and examine the original village Form No.14 copy of which was relied upon by the Petitioner pertaining to his cognate grandfather and great grandfather as the said documents mentioned their caste as 'Kunbi' and thus were vital to the decision of the caste claim of the Petitioner;

(iii) that the home enquiry conducted by the Vigilance Cell in respect of the Petitioner's claim as belonging to Kunbi caste and the interviews conducted with the villagers supported the Petitioner's claim as belonging to 'Kunbi caste', which cannot be discarded without recording any reasons as required under Rule 17(7) of the said Rules;

(iv) that there is a gross breach of natural justice in the impugned decision of the Committee as no show cause notice is issued to the Petitioner in respect of the various other findings rendered by the Committee, save and except on the two issues stated in the show cause notice dated 16th March 2021 pertaining to the validity of the 5 of 18 birth extract dated 9th December 1924 and the death extract dated 2nd January 1925 in Village Form No. 14 of the Petitioner's ancestors which showed their caste as 'Kunbi';

(v) that the enquiry conducted by the Committee was not fair and recorded an incorrect finding that the Vigilance Officer has personally visited and recorded that the genealogy was not proved by the Petitioner and the Petitioner has not submitted any document / record prior to 13th October 1967 in support of his claim as belonging to 'Kunbi' caste;

(vi) that the show cause notice dated 16th March 2021 did not call upon the Petitioner to give his reply to the home enquiry, affinity test, statement of the Petitioner on the point of affinity test and statement of independent witnesses recorded by the Vigilance Cell;

(vii) that in view of the letter dated 15th April 2021 issued by the Tahsildar subsequent to the passing of the impugned order dated 9th April 2021 the enquiry relating to the entries of 1924 and 1925 needed to be further probed by the Vigilance Cell as the Tahsildar, Mulshi after enquiry at his end has confirmed that the said entries in village Form No.14 of the ancestors of the Petitioner are now found in the revenue record of Village Nande and not village Kasar Amboli; hence in view of this subsequent development after the passing of the impugned order on 9th April 1921, the Committee be directed to reconsider the case of the Petitioner afresh; 6 of 18

(viii) that the letter dated 15th April 2021 is issued by the

Tahsildar, Mulshi, after the passing of the impugned order dated 9th April 2021 and being a subsequent development needs to be considered to establish the validity of the Petitioner's claim.

4. Mr. Deshmukh, learned Advocate appearing for the Respondent No. 4 arguing in support of the impugned order has drawn our attention to paragraph Nos. 7 to 10 of Respondent No. 4's Affidavit-in-Reply dated 16th July, 2021 which is reproduced as under:- "7. I say that the Petitioner had submitted entries dated 9.12.1924 and 2.1.1925 in village form no. 14 in support of his caste claim. It is clear from the vigilance cell report dated 15.3.2021 that the members of vigilance cell had personally verified births and deaths register of village Kasar Amboli. However, the entries dated 9.12.1924 and 2.1.1925 relied upon by the Petitioner could not be found in the register of village Kasar Amboli. Therefore, it goes without saying that the entries dated 19.12.1924 and 2.1.1925 are false and fabricated. I say that the Petitioner has submitted such false and fabricated entries only with an intention to mislead the Scrutiny Committee in granting caste validity to the Petitioner.

8. I say that the Petitioner did not stop here in misleading the Scrutiny Committee. To cover up his earlier act of submitting false and fabricated documents before the Scrutiny Committee, the Petitioner obtained another letter dated 15.4.2021 purportedly issued by the Tahsildar, Mulshi. I say that said letter dated 15.4.2021 purportedly issued by Tahsildar, Mulshi mentions that the entries dated 19.12.1924 and 2.1.1925 relied upon by the Petitioner in support of his caste claim are found in births and deaths register of another village i.e. Mauje Nande and not in register of village Kasar Amboli. I say that 7 of 18 from the bare perusal of letter dated 15.4.2021 purportedly issued by the Tahsildar, Mulshi reveals that the signature of Tahsildar, Mulshi has been forged thereon. I say that the signature on said letter dated 15.4.2021 can be compared with the signature of Tahsildar, Mulshi on letter dated 12.3.2021 addressed to the vigilance cell. Hereto annexed and marked as Exhibit 'A' collectively are copies of letters dated 15.4.2021 and 12.3.2021.

9. I say that the Petitioner relying upon said letter dated 15.4.2021 has submitted an application with the Scrutiny Committee on 20.4.2021 for rehearing. Therefore, the Petitioner has left no stone unturned in misleading the Scrutiny Committee. Hereto annexed and marked as Exhibit 'B' is copy of application submitted by the Petitioner on 20.4.2021 along with annexures.

10. I say that the letter dated 15.4.2021 obtained by the Petitioner purportedly from Tahsildar, Mulshi is self-destructive to the caste claim of Petitioner. It was the case of Petitioner since inception that he and his forefathers are permanent residents of village Kasar Amboli. It was the case of Petitioner that the entries dated 19.12.1924 and 2.1.1925 relied upon by the Petitioner in support of his caste claim are from births and deaths register of village Kasar Amboli. However, when the members of vigilance cell after personally verifying the births and deaths register of village Kasar Amboli observed that the entries relied upon by Petitioner could not be found therein the Petitioner obtained a letter dated 15.4.2021 purportedly from Tahsildar, Mulshi to say that the entries are found in births and deaths register of another village Nande, which completely demolishes the caste claim of Petitioner. It appears that the Petitioner after realizing that the letter dated 15.4.2021 is selfdestructive to his caste claim, the Petitioner has deliberately suppressed the same in present Writ Petition."

4.1. Mr. Deshmukh has made the following submissions:- 8 of 18

(i) that the letter dated 15th April, 2021 is self destructive to the caste claim of the Petitioner as the Petitioner has always maintained that his forefathers were permanent residents of village Kasar Amboli, hence the plea of the Petitioner that there has to be reconsideration of the Petitioner's claim by the Committee denovo is not well founded;

(ii) that the Petitioner has deliberately suppressed letter dated 15th April, 2021 from the Court at the time of filing of the petition;

(iii) that if the contents of the said letter are true, then it is evident that the Petitioner's ancestors i.e. the Petitioner's grandfather's brother and great grandfather were never residents of village Kasar Amboli;

(iv) that the impugned order has been correctly passed.

5. Mr. R.S. Pawar, learned AGP appearing on behalf of the Respondents has drawn our attention to the Affidavit-in-Reply dated 3rd August 2021 filed by Smt. Hira Shantaram Gadhe, Research Officer, District Caste Certificate, Scrutiny Committee Pune and made the following submissions:-

(i) that the order dated 9th April 2021 is a reasoned order giving cogent reasons and is passed after following the due process of law; 9 of 18

(ii) the Vigilance Cell has conducted a detailed enquiry and submitted its report on 15th March 2021;

(iii) that the Committee has held that two other vital documents namely the school leaving certificate of the Petitioner and the school leaving certificate of the Petitioner's father i.e. Prakash Bhau Gaikwad have stated their caste as "Hindu Maratha" and not 'Kunbi' and these documents did not support the caste claim of the Petitioner;

(iv) that investigation of verification of the entries pertaining to 1924 and 1925 by the Vigilance Cell Officer was done by personally inspecting the office record of the village Kasar Amboli but the same were not found in the revenue record of the said village;

(v) that except the aforesaid documents Petitioner has not submitted any other document in support of his caste claim as belonging to 'Kunbi' caste;

(vi) that the said entries are not genuine and are false and fabricated;

(vii) that save and except the said entries of 1924 and 1925, there is no other evidence relied upon by the Petitioner certifying that any of the Petitioner's relatives or ancestors in his genealogy belonged to 'Kunbi' caste.

6. We have perused the pleadings on record and heard the learned Advocates appearing for the parties. Submissions of the parties are on 10 of 18 pleaded lines. Written submissions tendered by the parties have been considered.

7. We have also perused the letter dated 15th April 2021 issued by Tahsildar Mulshi and called for the original file. We are satisfied that the letter dated 15th April 2021 has been issued by the Tahsildar since an office copy of the said letter is filed in the office record file maintained by the Tahsildar.

8. We may now outline our observations and findings as under:-

8.1. The show cause notice dated 16th January 2021 is issued to the Petitioner on the ground that the documentary evidence produced by the Petitioner, viz extract of Form No. 14 bearing date of birth as 2nd January 1925 of a son born to Vaghu Laxman Gaikwad (Great Great Grandfather of the Petitioner) and extract in Form No. 14 bearing date of death as 9th December 1924 of Nama Vaghu Gaikwad (brother of Petitioner's grandfather) are not found by the Vigilance Cell in the village record maintained in village Kasar Amboli. In the said show cause notice, the Petitioner is called upon to give his explanation in respect of the complaint made by Respondent No. 4 that the Petitioner did not belong to Kunbi caste and in fact belonged to Maratha caste and is further called upon to furnish documentary evidence in support of the Petitioner's caste claim.

8.2. In support of his claim, Petitioner has relied upon the following family tree (genealogy): 11 of 18 FAMILY TREE Vaghu Laxman Gaikwad (Great Grandfather)