IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH
M.S.JAWALKAR, NANDESH S.DESHPANDE
Bharati D/o Ramdas Bharde – Appellant
Versus
State of Maharashtra – Respondent
JUDGMENT :
NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.
1. Heard. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally by consent of parties.
2. The petitioner by this petition is challenging the impugned order dated 29.01.2019 passed by the respondent No.2 Scrutiny Committee invalidating the caste claim of the petitioner for ‘Mana’ Schedule Tribe and canceling the caste certificate dated 26.07.2007 issued by Sub-Divisional Officer, Hinganghat, Dist. Wardha, so also seeking to quash and set aside the order dated 02.02.2022 issued by the respondent No.3 - Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation appointing the petitioner on supernumerary position.
3. It is submitted that the petitioner is a permanent resident of Khapari, Taluka Samudrapur, District Wardha and belongs to ‘Mana’ community notified as Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra under Article 342(1) of the Constitution of India at Sr. No.18. The petitioner was appointed as ‘S.T. Bus Conductor’ under respondent No.3 on 10.07.2013 in a seat reserved for Scheduled Tribe Category.
4. It is submitted that the petitioner filed Writ Petition No.1704/2016 seeking direction to the respondent No.2 to decide the caste claim and protection of service. This Court vid




Scrutiny Committees must accurately interpret documents without multiplying entries or ignoring replies to vigilance reports; perverse invalidations based on fabricated contra indications quashed wit....
The court emphasized that pre-Constitutional documents are of higher probative value for determining tribe claims, and invalidation by the committee on the basis of affinity test was not legally soun....
The credibility of caste claims must adhere to historical documentation, with greater weight given to pre-Independence records, in lieu of modern records.
The burden of proof under Section 8 of the Act of 2000 requires the petitioner to disprove adverse historical entries to establish her Scheduled Tribe status.
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