JUDGMENT

1. Heard Mr. S. B. K. Manglam, learned Counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Fazle Karim, learned Assistant Counsel to Standing Counsel No. 1 for the State.

2. The petitioner has filed the present writ application for quashing the proceeding of General Committee of Caste Scrutiny Committee, dated 03.05.2018 (Annexure P-13), whereby the Committee has determined the caste of the petitioner as 'Sheikh' instead of 'Shekhra', i.e. Extremely Backward Class (BC-1).

3. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is the daughter of Md. Quamruzzama Adil and she was married with her cousin, Naurez Alam, in the year 2008. Before her marriage and before she was elected as Mukhiya of the Bishariya Gram Panchayat, the petitioner was granted the caste certificate of 'Shekhra' caste, which comes under the Extremely Backward Class (BC-1), by the Circle Officer, Bhargama, vide Certificate No. 844, dated 18.08.2005 (Annexure P-1). He further submits that the blood relatives of the petitioner had been granted the caste certificates of 'Shekhra' caste way back in the year 1997 up to 2015 and some of the blood relatives of the petitioner were granted the caste certificates of 'Shekhra' caste in the year 1966 also. The petitioner appeared in the secondary school examination conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board in the year 2007 and in the admit card issued in favour of the petitioner, her caste status has been mentioned as BC-1.

4. Learned Counsel for the petitioner further submits that in the year 2016, the State Election Commission, Bihar, notified panchayat election for Bishariya Gram Panchayat and the petitioner filed her nomination to contest the said election for the post of Mukhiya of the Bishariya Gram Panchayat, which, according to the petitioner, was reserved for the female of Extremely Backward Classes. Since the petitioner belongs to the 'Shekhra' caste, which falls under the Extremely Backward Class, she filed her nomination in order to contest the post of Mukhiya of Bishariya Gram Panchayat on the basis of her caste certificate issued in the year 2005. At the time of scrutiny of nomination, no objection was raised either by respondent no. 8 or from any other quarter. Accordingly, the nomination of the petitioner was accepted without any objection and she was declared elected for the post of Mukhiya of Bishariya Gram Panchayat. At this stage, respondent no. 8 filed a complaint before the State Election Commission under Section 136 (2) of the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006 with a prayer to disqualify the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner did not belong to the Extremely Backward Class community.

5. Before receipt of the complaint made by respondent no. 8, the State Government had already constituted a State-level Caste Scrutiny Committee as per the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in the case of Kumai Madhri Patil v. Additional Commissioner, reported in (1994) 6 SCC 241 and accordingly, the State Election Commission requested the Caste Scrutiny Committee for determination of the caste status of the petitioner. The Caste Scrutiny Committee of the General Administration Department directed the Crime Investigation Department to conduct enquiry in this matter and submit report. The Crime Investigation Department constituted a team for holding enquiry and before the Enquiry Committee, constituted by the Crime Investigation Department, the petitioner placed all the relevant documents in support of her caste 'Shekhra' for its consideration including the caste certificates of her blood relatives, who were enjoying the status of 'Shekhra' caste since 1966 onwards. The Crime Investigation Department submitted its report to the Inspector General of Police (Weaker Section), Crime Investigation Department, on 05.02.2018, which was forwarded to the General Administration Department. After receipt of the report, the General Administration Department issued a notice to the petitioner, vide letter no. 2919, da