The main legal point established in the judgment is that the recognition of Scheduled Tribe status, as per the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and subsequent amendments, should be based on the provisions of the Order and relevant case law, and should not be arbitrarily rejected based on historical or community affiliation requirements.

R.K. Deshpande, J.

1. The challenge in this petition is to the order dated 2-3-2013 passed by the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Gadchiroli, Division Nagpur, invalidating the claim of the petitioner for 'Mana' (Scheduled Tribe Category) and consequently canceling and confiscating the certificate dated 28-4-2011 issued in the name of the petitioner as belonging to 'Mana', Scheduled Tribe, which is an Entry No.18 in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

2. Before the Committee, the petitioner produced about six documents, which all record the caste of the petitioner and his blood relatives as 'Mana'. The oldest document is the revenue record of the year 1-9-1920 in the name of Patralya Bijya, the real grandfather of the petitioner. The another document is the school leaving certificate in the name of the father of the petitioner, in which an entry 'Mana' was made on 1-4-1946 at the time of admission in the school. The petitioner produced the caste validity certificate dated 19-10-2005 in the name of Ramesh Sabalu, the cousin brother of the petitioner, and the another validity certificate dated 25-11-2010 in the name of Giraja Kawadu, the cousin sister of the petitioner, issued by the same Committee certifying their claim for 'Mana' Scheduled Tribe. The Police Vigilance Cell of the Committee also conducted an enquiry and concluded that the documents produced by the petitioner show his caste as 'Mana'.

3. The Committee records the finding that the entries in the school and revenue records of the blood relatives of the petitioner for the period from 1-9-1920 to 1946 consistently records the caste 'Mana'. However, all such documents are rejected mainly on the following findings :

(a) that 'Mana' community was included in the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the State of Maharashtra for the first time in the year 1960, that too in the specified area only, and the petitioner has failed to establish that he or his forefathers hail from the said area and migrated to the present place of their residence, from the said specified scheduled area.

(b) that in the year 1967, 'Mana' community was included in the list of Other Backward Classes at Serial No.268 and later on in the list of Special Backward Classes at Serial No.2 in relation to the State of Maharashtra,

(c) that there are nontribal communities like 'Badwaik Mana', 'Khand Mana', 'Kshatriya Mana', 'Kunbi Mana', 'Maratha Mana', 'Gond Mana', 'Mani'/'Mane', etc., and the petitioner has failed to satisfy crucial affinity test to establish that he belongs to 'Mana, Scheduled Tribe', which is an entry at Serial No.18 in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

(d) that the documents produced simply indicate the caste as 'Mana' and not 'Mana, Scheduled Tribe'.

4. The President issued the Constitutional (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 in exercise of the power conferred by clause (2) of Article 342 of the Constitution of India. By clause 2 of that Order, it was provided that the tribes or tribal communities, or parts of, or groups within, tribes or tribal communities, specified in Parts I to XXII of the Scheduled to the Order shall, in relation to the States to which those Parts respective relate, be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes so far as regards members thereof residents in the localities specified in relation to them respectively in those Parts of that Schedule.

5. Initially, Entry No.12 in the relevant Part in the Schedule to the Order read as “Gond, including Madia (Maria) and Mudia (Muria)”. By the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act No.63 of 1956, the said Entry No.12 was substituted by Entry No.12 in paragraph 7 of Part VIII(A) of the Schedule to the Order, which was as follows:

“7. In (1) Melghat tahsil of the Amravati district.

(2) Gadchiroli and Sironcha tahsils of the Chanda district.

(3) Kelapur, Wani and Yeotmal tasils of the Yeotmal district:

12. Gond, including – Arakh or Arrakh, Agaria, Asur, Badi Maria or Bada