The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement to observe the principles of natural justice, particularly the right to be heard, in administrative decisions affecting the rights of individuals.

A.C. Agarwal, CJ.

1. Admit. Mr.D. Murugesan, Government Pleader takes notice on behalf of respondents 1 and 2. On application made on behalf of the appellant, Respondent No.3 is deleted. By consent the main writ appeal is called out for hearing and final disposal.

2. By the present appeal, the appellant impugns a judgment and order passed by a learned single Judge on 20.10.1998 whereby his writ petition, being Writ Petition No. 8672 of 1993 has been dismissed. The facts leading to the filing of the present appeal are as under:

The appellant had obtained an admission for B. Tech(Aeronautic Engineering) being conducted by the 3rd respondent Anna University on the strength of his community certificate which showed that he belongs to Hindu Pallan Community. The said community certificate was referred to the District Collector for verification. By an order passed by the District Collector on 4. 1993, the District Collector has invalidated the said certificate. The Collector in his order has relied upon the report of the R.D.O. dated 27. 1992 and 10. 1992 which are related to discreet enquiry which had been conducted behind the back of the appellant. It is now common ground before us that a copy of the aforesaid reports were not furnished to the appellant and the order invalidating the community certificate was passed without affording the appellant an opportunity to meet the aforesaid reports. Mr.D. Murugesan, learned Government Pleader appearing on behalf of respondents 1 and 2 concedes that the aforesaid reports were not furnished to the appellant. A reading of the order of the Collector makes it clear that he has placed reliance on the said reports while deciding upon the genuineness or otherwise of the community certificate submitted by the appellant. In our judgment, since the said reports have been relied upon while deciding the claim of the appellant in respect of the community certificate and since no notice was given to the appellant in regard to the same the enquiry conducted by the Collector and the consequent order passed by him will stand vitiated on the ground that the same suffers from vice of non-observance of the principles of natural justice. The said order is accordingly quashed and set aside. The matter would ordinarily be required to be remitted back to the District Collector for a fresh enquiry after affording the appellant copies of the said reports and after affording him a reasonable opportunity of being heard. We are now informed that a District High Level Caste Scrutiny Committee has been constituted in terms of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Madhuri Patil v. Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development, A.I.R. 1995 SC 94. The present enquiry will therefore be required to be conducted by the said District High Level Caste Scrutiny Committee. In the circumstances, present case is now remitted back to the District High Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, which will now issue fresh notice to the appellant, furnish relevant documents pertaining to the aforesaid reports in regard to the enquiry conducted by the R.D.O. and afford the appellant a reasonable opportunity of being heard and thereafter decide the claim made by the appellants on its own merits and inaccordance with law. The impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge is accordingly set aside and the same is substituted by the present order. The writ appeal is allowed in the aforesaid terms. However, in the circumstances of the case there will be no order as to costs. Consequently, C.M.P.No. 11729 of 1999 is closed as no further order is necessary.