A.B. Chaudhari, J.

1. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Learned Adv. Mr. K.P. Sadavarte waives service on behalf of respondent no. 1, and learned AGP Mr. N.R. Patil, for respondent nos. 2 and 3. With the consent of rival parties, this Writ Petition is taken up for final hearing.

2. Being aggrieved by the impugned orders dated 14th December, 2011 passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Malkapur, in the matter of refusal to issue Caste Certificates to the petitioners, and confirmed in appeals by the Appellate Authority vide its orders dated 18th February, 2014, the petitioners have approached this Court by present petition.

3. In support of the Writ Petition, learned counsel for the petitioners made the following submissions:-

[a] The petitioners belong to Thakur, Scheduled Tribe enlisted at Sr. No. 44 in Part-IX [Maharashtra] of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

[b] All the petitioners applied to Sub-Divisional Officer, Malkapur, for issuance of Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificates to them with relevant documents in support of their claim as belonging to Thakur, Scheduled Tribe.

[c] The Sub-Divisional Officer made a long-drawn order in respect of each petitioner and discussed all the documents filed by the respective petitioners, so also the decisions of the High Court and also adjudicated that the petitioners did not belong to Thakur, Scheduled Tribe community and also did not fulfill the requirement of affinity test and, therefore, they could not be issued any Caste Certificate, he having come to the conclusion that the petitioners do not belong to Thakur caste, Scheduled Tribe. He, thus, refused to grant certificates to the petitioners.

[d] The petitioners filed appeals before the Appellate Authority which merely affirmed the orders passed by the Sub-Divisional Officer for the reasons recorded by him.

The petitioners have, therefore, filed the instant petition.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioners then submitted that after coming into force of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance & Verification of) Caste Certificates Act, 2000 (Act No. 23 of 2001) and he Gazette Rules framed therein, the competent authority to issue a Caste Certificate is the Sub-Divisional Officer having jurisdiction over the area or place to which the applicant originally belongs. According to the learned counsel for the petitioners, all the petitioners belong to the villages in the Taluka of Malkapur and within the jurisdiction of Sub-Divisional Officer, Malkapur, and, therefore, their places of origin being in the Taluka of Malkapur, it was the Sub-Divisional Officer alone, who was the competent authority to issue Caste Certificates. According to the learned counsel for the petitioners, the Sub-Divisional Officer, who is supported to issue Caste Certificates, has no authority in law to make a detailed adjudication as if it were the Scheduled Tribes Castes Certificates Scrutiny Committee, whose function is to adjudicate and validate/invalidate the Caste Certificate issued by the Sub-Divisional Officer. Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the Sub-Divisional Officer or the competent authority, whose job is to issue a Caste Certificate, has clearly usurped his authority and acted as if the competent authority or the Sub-Divisional Officer, Malkapur, was the Scheduled Tribes Castes Certificates Scrutiny Committee. According to learned counsel for the petitioners, the Act and the Rules do not contemplate Sub-Divisional Officer to adjudicate before issuing a Caste Certificate and record a finding accordingly. Learned counsel for the petitioners also submitted that the Appellate Authority too mechanically rejected the appeals filed by the petitioners. The counsel for the petitioners, therefore, prayed for reversal of the orders impugned and also urged this Court to define t