Submission of a fake caste certificate for appointment in a government agency warrants dismissal from service.

The petitioner in the present writ application is aggrieved by an order dated 25.10.2007 passed by the Commandant BN 147, CRPF, Silchar, Assam whereby he has been dismissed from service on the ground that he submitted a caste certificate to the effect that he belonged to Scheduled Tribe at the time of his appointment as Constable in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) which was found to be fake upon a subsequent enquiry. An order dated 29.04.2008 passed by the appellate authority affirming the order of the disciplinary authority is also under challenge in the present writ application.

2. It is the petitioner’s case that he belongs to Gond caste which is a Scheduled Tribe. He applied for the post of Constable (GD) in CRPF as Scheduled Tribe candidate and at the time of his recruitment he had submitted a caste certificate issued vide letter No. 472 dated 23.11.1996 from the office of the District Magistrate, Bhojpur, (respondent No.6). After his selection against the vacancy reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidate, he joined duties in the year 2003 and started performing his duties.

3. On 04.01.2006, the petitioner was served with a notice asking his explanation, as regards the caste certificate submitted by him, justifying the veracity of the certificate submitted by him at the time of his appointment. The petitioner submitted his explanation on 06.01.2006. The respondents, thereafter, sought for a report from the Sub divisional Officer, Jagdishpur (respondent No.7), who is said to have reported that the petitioner belonged to “Kanu caste”. The petitioner terms the said report of the Sub divisional Officer, Jagdishpur (respondent No.7) to be wrong reiterating his claim on the basis of caste certificate dated 23.11.1996 issued by the District Magistrate, Bhojpur, (respondent No.6). According to him the certificate dated 23.11.1996 was issued by the District Magistrate, Bhojpur after thorough enquiry of the facts by all the concerned subordinate officers. After finding the caste certificate submitted by the petitioner at the time of his appointment to be fake, the disciplinary authority, i.e., the Commandant BN 147, CRPF (respondent No.4) dismissed the petitioner from service.

4. It has been stated in paragraph 9 of the writ application that the petitioner, in course of enquiry, intended to adduce witnesses in support of his case but no opportunity was given to him.

5. This is to be noted here that the petitioner had submitted a caste certificate No. 880 dated 15.02.2003 at the time of his appointment. The said caste certificate was shown to have been issued by the Sub divisional Officer, Jagdishpur (respondent No.7). From the statement of the petitioner, in course of departmental proceeding, which has been brought on record as annexure-3 to the present writ application, it would appear that the petitioner claimed that a caste certificate No. 880 dated 15.02.2003 was issued by the Sub divisional Officer on the basis of earlier certificate issued by the same officer vide No. 1230 dated 21.11.1996. It further appears that the caste certificate dated 23.11.1996 issued by the District Magistrate, Bhojpur (respondent No.6) was also based on a certificate issued by Sub divisional Officer dated 21.11.1996.

6. There is no dispute about the one aspect. The petitioner at the time of his appointment had submitted a caste certificate No. 880 dated 15.02.2003 said to have been issued by Sub divisional Officer, Jagdishpur (respondent No.7) showing that the petitioner belonged to caste Gond, which is a Scheduled Tribe, which has been found to be fake. It has been reported by the Sub divisional Officer himself that no such certificate was issued from his office. There is also no dispute about the fact that respondent No.7, who is said to have issued the certificate dated 21.11.1996, which was the basis for issuance of such certificate by the District Magistrate on 23.11.1996, himself in his report sent to the authorities of CRPF has mention