Rajiv Roy, J. – Heard Mr. S.B.K. Mangalam, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Amit Srivastava, learned Senior counsel for the respondent no. 4, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Ghosarvey, learned AC to AAG -3 for the State and Mr. Sanjiv Nikesh for the State Election Commission, Bihar.

2. The petitioner has moved this Court for: –

(i) the issuance of an appropriate writ in the nature of certiorari for quashing of the order dated 15.07.2022 passed by the Respondent no.2, the State Election Commissioner in Case No.72 of 2022 (Santosh Kumar vs. The State of Bihar and others) communicated to him vide memo no. 2900 dated 26.07.2022, whereby and whereunder the Respondent no.2 has referred the matter to the Caste Scrutiny Committee for determination of the caste of the petitioner when a complaint was filed before him by the Respondent no.4 to disqualify the petitioner from holding the post of ‘Mukhiya’ of Gram Panchayat Raj, Bagahi Baghambarpur under Section 136 (2) of the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 2006 (henceforth for short ‘the Gram Panchayat Act’);

(ii) for issuance of any other appropriate writ/writ, order/orders, direction/directions for which the writ petitioner would be found entitled under the facts and circumstances of the case.

3. Subsequently, vide I.A. No. 01 of 2023, the petitioner also wanted quashing of the: –

order dated 02.01.2023 passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, General Administration Department, Bihar, Patna communicated vide memo no. 863 dated 12.01.2023 by which it declared the petitioner to be a member of ‘Koeri’ (Kushwaha) Caste.

4. The matrix of facts giving rise to the present writ petition is/are as follows:

5. The petitioner was elected as ‘Mukhiya’ in the year 2021 election from Gram Panchayat Raj, Bagahi Baghambarpur in the district of West Champaran. It was challenged by one Santosh Kumar (respondent no. 4) on the ground that he has contested the election from the seat reserved for Extremely Backward Class on forged certificate declaring himself as ‘Dangi’ caste although he actually belongs to ‘Koeri’ (Kushwaha) caste which comes under the Other Backward Class (Annexure-2).

6. Accordingly, the petitioner was put on notice and a case vide Case No. 72 of 2022 was registered by the State Election Commission, Bihar, Patna (henceforth for short ‘the Commission’).

7. The petitioner appeared before the respondent no. 2, “the Commission” armed with the documents in support of his case. However, vide impugned order dated 15.07.2022 communicated vide memo No. 2900 dated 26.07.2022, ‘the Commission’ was pleased to refer the matter to the Caste Scrutiny Committee, General Administration Department, Bihar, Patna (henceforth for short ‘the Committee’) for declaration of his caste status.

8. It is worth mentioning here that ‘the Committee’ has been constituted under General Administration Department, Bihar, Patna (henceforth for short ‘the GAD’) in the light of a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Kumari Madhuri Patil vs. The Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development & Others reported in (1994) 6 SCC 241.

9. Aggrieved by the said reference to ‘the Committee’, the present writ petition was filed.

10. During the pendency of the writ petition, ‘the Committee’ referred the matter to the Criminal Investigation Department, Bihar, Patna (henceforth for short ‘the CID’) which after an enquiry submitted its report vide letter no. 1812 dated 18.10.2022 addressed to the Additional Director, General Police (weaker section), ‘the CID’.

11. According to ‘the CID’, the team conducted inquiry on the following points: –

(i) the statement of the prominent persons of the society who stated that the petitioner belongs to ‘Koeri’ (Kushwaha) caste which comes under the other backward class and is not ‘Dangi’ (extremely backward class);

(ii) the statement of the local citizen who also endorsed the view of the prominent persons of the society;

(iii