HEMA, J.

1. Can a community certificate issued by the competent authority be cancelled, under Section 11 of the Kerala (Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1996 ('the Act' for short) on the mere finding that the person in whose favour the certificate was issued does not belong to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community? What are the factors to be looked into by the scrutiny committee before cancelling a false community certificate under Section 11 of the Act? These are the main questions that arise for consideration in this appeal in the following factual matrix.

2. Appellants, five in number, filed this appeal under Section 12(3) of the Act challenging the order of the Scrutiny Committee which is as follows:

"The committee therefore orders to cancel all Scheduled Tribe community certificates issued to the claimants and their siblings and the caste entries in their school records corrected as Paniyakkal OEC".

3. The proceedings against appellants were triggered by a representation dated 06.09.1994 made by the Secretary, Girijan Sevak Samithi, Agali, Attappadi to Government. As per the allegations in the representat