The acceptance of an individual by a community is crucial in determining their belonging to a particular class or community, and a caste certificate should not be allowed to be cancelled without proper justification.

This judgment and order of ours will dispose c of Appeal No. 145 of 1995 and Appeal No. 146 of 1998> which have been filed by the two brothers against the common judgment of the learned Single Judge dated 13.5.1998 by which two writ petitions, Civil Rule No.2544 of 1996 and Civil Rule No.4980 of 1996 were disposed of. The facts and point of law in both the cases are almost identical. The facts are being taken from Writ Appeal No. 145 of 1995.

2. The appellant herein Sri Arabinda Kumar Saha was bom out of the wedlock between Basanta Kumar Saha of general category i.e., caste Hindu, (in other words not belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or a backward class) and Smti Subhadra Das belonging to the Kaibarta Community a Scheduled Castes in the State of Assam. He was born on 1.8.1947. In other words he was the child of a non-Scheduled Castes father and Scheduled Castes mother. In 1967, the appellant-writ petitioner applied for grant of certificate as belonging to Scheduled Castes. It is the case of the appellant that he had duly disclosed that his father belonged to general category and was not a Scheduled Castes and mother belonged to a Scheduled Castes community. Appropriate authority i.e. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Dhubri, gave the petitioner a caste certificate as belonging to Scheduled Castes category on 12.6.67. The relevant portion of the certificate is reproduced below:

"This is to certify that Shri Arabinda Kumar Saha, son of Sri Basanta Kumar Saha, Village/Town Dhubri in District/Division Goalpara of the State/Union Territory of Assam belongs to the Kaibarta Caste/Tribe under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Dists (Modification) Order, 1956. Shri AK Saha and/or his family ordinarily reside (s) in Village/Town Tamarhat of Goalpara District/Division of the State of Assam."

3. The appellant was inducted into a Govt service in the year 1972 as a Scheduled Castes. He joined the service as a Sub Inspector in the Food and Civil Supplies Department and got his promotion as a member of the Scheduled Castes to the post of Inspector in the year of 1984 and then to the rank of Superintendent which post he is holding now. It is the case of the appellant that he has all along been treated as a member of the Scheduled Castes community and during his entire educational career as well as entry into the Govt service the appellant has been known and treated as member of Scheduled Castes. He was elected as Vice President of the Annusuchit Jati Karmachari Parishad, Dhubri and he is also been member of the Executive Committee of the Assam Annusuchit Jati Karmachari Santha since many years. Further it is the case of the appellant that one Sudhir Singh Chowdhury, Chairman of the Sub Divisional Scheduled Castes Development Board had some prejudice against the appellant because the appellant was instrumental in getting some action taken in connection with a complaint against Shri Chowdhury regarding corruption etc regarding working of the Co-operative Store in the Department of Food and Civil Supplies which b led him to file a complaint against the appellant on 16.5.94 that the appellant is not a member of Scheduled Castes community and had wrongly obtained a caste certificate professing himself to be a member of the Scheduled Castes community.

4. On the basis of the complaint an enquiry was instituted and an EAC was asked to hold the enquiry whereupon a show cause notice was issued to the appellant. The appellant while showing cause stated that has been brought up in the community of the Scheduled Castes and he has been accepted in that community and his mother and father were residing together. However, the enquiry report went against the appellant holding that he could not be said to be belonging to the Scheduled Castes community inasmuch as his father was a non-Scheduled Castes and he was under his influence and had really been brought up by the j father which did not entitle him to claim