The entitlement to a Community Certificate as a member of a Scheduled Tribe based on the Community Certificates possessed by family members and previous court decisions.

C. Nagappan, J.

1. The petitioner has sought for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to quash the proceedings of the respondent in Roc No.4385/2009/D, dated 20.10.2009, and to direct the respondent to issue Community Certificate to the petitioner to the effect that he belongs to ‘Konda Reddy’ Community, which is a Scheduled Tribe.

2. Briefly, the petitioner’s case is that he belongs to ‘Konda Reddy’ Community, which is a Scheduled Tribe, and his father and mother possess Community Certificates issued by the Tahsildar and his elder brother was issued with the Community Certificate pursuant to the direction given by this Court and a number of his close relatives also possess Community Certificates stating that they belong to ‘Konda Reddy’ Community and the petitioner’s father applied on 11. 1996 to the respondent seeking for issuance of Community Certificate to the petitioner, who was a minor at that time, and reminder was also sent on 11. 1999 and the respondent by proceedings dated 38. 2000 rejected the claim and the petitioner challenged the same by filing a Writ Petition in W.P.No.8256 of 2001 and this Court by Order dated 27. 2009 set aside the Order dated 38. 2000 and directed the respondent to reconsider the petitioner’s request in the light of the Community Certificates possessed by his parents and brother and the respondent again rejected the claim of the petitioner in the impugned order and the petitioner has challenged the same in the present Writ Petition.

3. The respondent has filed counter stating that a due enquiry was conducted on the claim of the petitioner and the oral and documentary evidence was considered and it is concluded that the petitioner does not belong to ‘Konda Reddy’ Community.

4. Mr. Vijay Shankar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that the family members of the petitioner, namely, father, mother and brother, possess valid Community Certificates stating that they belong to ‘Konda Reddy’ Community and the conclusion of the respondent that no reliance can be placed on those certificates, is erroneous and there is wrongful denial of the Community Certificate to the genuine claim made by the petitioner and the respondent is not right in rejecting the claim and the impugned order is liable to be set aside and the petitioner is entitled for the issuance of Community Certificate sought for by him.

In support of his submission, the learned counsel relies on the following decisions of the Apex Court and this Court:

.(i) Gayatrilaxmi Bapurao Nagpure v. State of Maharashtra and others, 1996 (3) SCC 6851;

.(ii) State of Bihar and others v. Sumit Anand, 2005 (12) SCC 248;

(iii) A decision of the Division Bench of this Court dated 13. 2008 in C. Srinivasan v. The District Collector and Chairman, District Vigilance Committee, Krishnagiri District and others, W.P.No.21851 of 2007; and

(iv) V. Krishnan and another v. Scheduled Tribe Certificate Issuing Officer and Personal Assistant (General) to the Collector of Chennai and others, 2008 (4) MLJ 5241.

5. Per contra, the learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the respondent submits that though the petitioner is entitled for issuance of Community Certificate on the basis of the Community Certificates possessed by his parents, there is contra evidence available in the form of revenue records and school records of the parents of the petitioner to show that they belong to Hindu Reddiar community and verification of the Community Certificate of the brother of the petitioner namely C.V. Manivannan is pending and the respondent has conducted a detailed enquiry on the claim made by the petitioner and concluded that the claim is liable to be rejected.

6. It is not in dispute that Thiru. S. Vijayaragavan, father of the petitioner, and Tmt. K.S. Vijayalakshmi, mother of the petitioner, are in possession of the Community Certificates dated 210. 1974 and 12. 1975 respectively, issued by the Tahsildar, Mettur, stating that