JUDGMENT :

The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of direction upon the concerned respondents to issue caste certificates of schedule tribe to the petitioners as well as their family members whose surnames are ‘Manjhi’ and belong to ‘Santhal’ community as per the record of rights of 1911 and 1964, however, due to erroneous finding of the respondent no. 7 – the Circle Officer, Ichagarh, Seraikella-Kharsawan, the concerned authorities have stopped issuing the certificates of scheduled tribe to the petitioners and their family members. Further prayer has been made for issuance of direction upon the concerned respondents to conduct high level enquiry in this regard as suggested by the respondent no. 7 vide his enquiry report contained in letter no. 03 dated 02.01.2016 mentioning that there was a doubt regarding the residents of Nawadih village having the surname ‘Manjhi’ claiming themselves as belonging to the scheduled tribe community.

2. During pendency of the writ petition, the petitioners have also filed I.A. No. 3301 of 2018 seeking challenge to the enquiry report of the respondent no. 7 contained in letter no. 03 dated 02.01.2016, as according to them, the certificates of scheduled tribe are not being issued to them due to the said enquiry report.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are the permanent residents of Village-Nawadih, Panchayat-Dewaltand, Block-Ichagarh, District-Seraikella-Kharsawan and have been using the surname of ‘Manjhi’. As per the record of rights prepared in the year 1911, they have been shown belonging to the scheduled tribe community ‘Santhal’. Majority of the residents of Nawadih village (about 90% of the villagers) use the surname ‘Manjhi’, who identify themselves as part of ‘Santhal’ community. In the record of rights of the year 1964 also, the petitioners and other residents of Nawadih village having surnames of ‘Manjhi’ were shown as ‘Santhals’. Earlier, the petitioners, their family members and other residents of the aforesaid village did not face any difficulty in getting the certificate of scheduled tribe as the ‘Santhal’ community was recognized as a scheduled tribe vide ‘The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950’.

4. It is further submitted that as per several orders passed by the court of Commissioner, South Chhotanagpur Division, Ranchi, the residents of Nawadih village using the surname ‘Manjhi’ belong to the ‘Santhal’ community and, therefore, they come under the category of ‘Scheduled Tribe’. Hence, prior permission of the Deputy Commissioner under Section 46 of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 is required for transfer of land. One of such decisions is contained in order dated 23.03.1999 passed by the Commissioner, South Chotanagpur Division, Ranchi in Singhbhum Mutation Revision No. 29 of 1990. Ignoring the aforesaid aspect, the respondent no. 7 submitted the enquiry report to the respondent no. 5 with respect to the residents of Nawadih village using the surname ‘Manjhi’ vide letter no. 03 dated 02.01.2016 giving opinion that though in the record of rights of 1911, the caste of forefathers/ancestors of the said villagers were recorded as ‘Santhal’, however, in recent times their customs were found different from ‘Santhal’ community, which required high level enquiry. After the enquiry report submitted by the respondent no. 7 to the respondent no. 5 – the Deputy Commissioner, Seraikella-Kharsawan, no further step has been taken by the authorities in this regard, whereas due to the said enquiry report, the certificates of scheduled tribe are not being issued to the petitioners and similarly situated residents of Village-Nawadih. It is also submitted that the certificates of scheduled tribe were being issued to residents of Village-Nawadih during the 1990s. The petitioners have annexed copies of few such caste certificates as Annexure-10 series to the supplementary affidavit dated 26.07.2017 filed on their behalf. Under the said compelling