F.I. Rebello, J.

Rule.

By consent, heard forthwith.

1. Considering the controversy, we had requested the learned Advocate General to assist the Court.

2. The main question for consideration apart from the ancilliary questions is “Whether report of the Research Officer associated with the committee is evidence which can be considered for rejecting the tribe claim of the applicant without giving an opportunity to the applicant to cross-examine the Research Officer if request is so made?”

3. We shall first address ourselves to this main question. The petitioner claims to belong to Thakur tribe which is a notified scheduled tribe in the State of Maharashtra. The petitioner is working in the office of the respondent no.4. By the present petition, the petitioner is impugning the order dated 27th April, 2007 passed by the respondent no.2 committee invalidating the caste claim of the petitioner as belonging to Thakur scheduled tribe.

4. The petitioner was granted a caste certificate by the respondent no. 4 on 10th December, 1997 as belonging to the Thakur tribe. The petitioner relied on various documents which include entries in school records of himself, his family members as