S. P. KUKDAY, J.

( 1 ) RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of the respective Advocates. Petition is taken up for hearing. Respective counsel waive service.

( 2 ) IN this petition, the petitioner challenges order dated 6-6-2002 passed by the Scheduled Tribe Certificates Scrutiny Committee, Aurangabad (respondent no. 1) (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee") invalidating his tribe claim.

( 3 ) THE petitioner claims to belong to "koli Mahadeo" Scheduled Tribe. He is a native of village Ashiv, Tq. Ausa, Dist. Latur. Not only parents but most of his near relatives are illiterate. The petitioner has taken education up to Bachelor of Arts (B. A. ). The petitioner applied for and was selected as Driver in maharashtra Road Transport Corporation, on a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribe.

( 4 ) THE caste/ (tribe) claim of the petitioner was referred by the employer to the Committee for the purpose of verification. After conducting school and home inquiry and giving an opportunity to the petitioner of producing oral as well as documentary evidence in support of his tribe claim, the Committee found that all the documents produced by him were of recent origin, inasmuch as the documents were of post Presidential Order, 1950 era. The Committee further found that the petitioner has failed to prove cultural affinity and ethnic linkage with "koli Mahadeo" Scheduled Tribe as he does not have even a basic knowledge of the traits, characteristics, customs, usages etc. of "koli Mahadeo", scheduled Tribe. On these main grounds, the Committee invalidated his tribe claim vide an order dated 6-6-2002. This order has been impugned by the petitioner in the instant petition.

( 5 ) IT is the case of the petitioner that except his brother and uncle Mahadeo, his parents and other blood relatives are illiterate. His brother has taken education upto IV standard and has then stated working as manual labourer, at Mumbai. He himself has taken education upto B. A. from Primary till the Graduation level his caste is recorded as "koli Mahadeo" in the school as well as College record. In addition to his school and college record, he has submitted caste certificate of his paternal uncle, Mahadeo Zunjkar, issued by the Executive Magistrate, Ausa on 10-6-1988, along with the extract of service record of his uncle. The petitioner further claims that home enquiry was conducted by the Vigilance Cell, in which information submitted by him was verified. There is nothing adverse in the report of the Vigilance Cell. In spite of this the Committee invalidated his tribe claim.

( 6 ) BEFORE entering into the merits, it may be pertinent to bear in mind that in view of the prevailing acute problem of unemployment, there is cut-throat competition for the service under the Government. For upliftment of the backward class and for their advancement certain privileges are given to them in the form of reservations of posts in service with Government, Semi-Government and Local Authorities. However, on several occasions, some unscrupulous elements who are not entitled to these concessions, secure jobs by claiming pseudo-status. Considering the need for streamlining the procedure and for ensuring that SCs and STs get their due share, the Apex Court in the celebrated judgment in the case of Madhuri Patil vs. Additional Commissioner, Tribal development and others reported in AIR 1995 SC 94 has laid down guidelines to ensure that the tribe/caste claim is verified by following proper procedure. Directions were also given for formation of Committees for verification of tribe claim and for creation of Vigilance Cell to conduct home enquiry. The guidelines lay down that the tribe claim is to be verified with the help of entries in the public record. The claimant is to be subjected to affinity test to ascertain whether he has knowledge regarding traits and characteristics of the concerned tribe. In this behalf, the Apex Court has observed in para No. 10 of the report