1. These petitions are filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The issue involved in all these petitions is almost similar and, therefore with the consent of learned advocates appearing for the parties, all these petitions are heard together and are being decided by this common judgment.

2. For the sake of convenience, the facts stated in Special Civil Application No.139/2018 and Special Civil Application No.20215/2018 are considered and both these petitions are treated as lead matters.

3. Facts of Special Civil Application No.139/2018.

3.1 It is stated that the petitioner belongs to Rabari Community hailing from Gir, Barda and Alech Forest area. The Hon’ble President of India has declared the said community of the said area as “Scheduled Tribe” vide Notification dated 29.10.1956. The father of the petitioner was conferred with the status of “Scheduled Tribe” on 06.06.1979 by the concerned authority at Junagadh. Thereafter, the petitioner applied in the year 2006 for obtaining caste certificate in his name. It is stated that the concerned Taluka Level Committee, which is authorized to issue certificate, decided to give status of “Scheduled Tribe” to the petitioner and, thereafter, the caste certificate bearing No.1860/06 dated 11.07.2006 was issued in favour of the petitioner.

3.2 It is further stated that the petitioner appeared in the examination held by Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) for the post of Class – I & II and he has cleared the said examination. It is stated that on the basis of some representation received from the concerned Scheduled Tribes Association, the caste certificate of the petitioner is under the process of scrutiny by the Scrutiny Committee of the respondent – State.

3.3 It is further stated that the concerned respondent authority has issued notice to the petitioner on 18.11.2017, by which, the petitioner is asked to remain present before the authority along with necessary documents in support of the caste certificate issued in his favour. The petitioner remained present on 28.11.2017 and requested to provide adverse material against him, however, the said material was not provided to the petitioner and, thereafter, notice dated 20.12.2017 is issued to the petitioner to remain present on 09.01.2018 before the Scrutiny Committee.

3.4 Therefore, the petitioner has preferred present petition, in which, the petitioner has prayed that the notices dated 20.12.2017 and 18.11.2017 issued by the concerned respondents be set aside. The petitioner has also prayed that the direction be issued to the respondent authority to decide; (1) authority letter; (2) application demanding information; (3) preliminary objection application sent by the petitioner on 16.12.2017; and (4) the application dated 29.12.2017 submitted by the petitioner. It is further prayed that the respondent be directed to carry out scrutiny if it is permissible in accordance with the direction issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of Kum. Madhuri Patil & Anr. Vs. Addl. Commissioner, Tribal Development, Thane & Ors., reported in AIR 1995 SC 94 and the instructions dated 21.01.2010 issued by the State Government.

4. Facts of Special Civil Application No.20215/2018.

4.1 In this petition, the petitioner has stated that he belongs to Rabari community hailing from Gir, Barda and Alech Forest Area. The Hon’ble President of India has issued notice dated 29.10.1956, whereby the aforesaid community is included in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Act, 1976. It is submitted that the petitioner had applied before the concerned Mamlatdar for obtaining caste certificate. Along with the said application, the petitioner submitted required documents including Vigat Darshak Card of his grandfather. After considering the documentary evidence, the Taluka Level Committee, Jam Jodhpur had decided to issue caste certificate to the petitioner and, thereafter, the caste certificate is issued to the petitioner on 08.0