Ajay /Amberkar IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 2045 OF 2021 Swapnil Baban Shinde, Aged 29 years, resident of Shinde Wadi, Kasar Amboli, Tal. Mulshi, Dist. Pune - 412 115 .. Petitioner Versus

1. State of Maharashtra Through its Secretary, Social Justice Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 400 032

2. District Caste Certificate Certificate Scrutiny Committee Pune District, Pune, through its Member Secretary, having its office at Jail Road, Commerce zone, behind IT Park, Yerwada, Dist. Pune - 411 003

3. Collector, Pune. Dist . Pune

4. Vinayak Sunil Raut, Resident of Kasar Amboli, Tal. Mulshi, Dist. Pune - 412 115 .. Respondents ................…

(cid:1)

Mr. R.K. Mendadkar, Advocate for the Petitioner (cid:1)

Mr. R.S. Pawar, AGP for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3 (cid:1)

Mr. T.D. Deshmukh, Advocate for Respondent No.4 ...................

CORAM : S.J. KATHAWALLA &

MILIND N. JADHAV, JJ.

DATE : 14 FEBRUARY, 2022 ORDER [ Per S.J. Kathawalla & Milind N. Jadhav, JJ.]:

. By the present Writ Petition, the Petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:

"(a) This Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue Writ of Certiorari and or any other Writ, Order or Direction in the nature of Certiorari thereby quashing and setting aside the impugned order dated 9-4-2021 passed by the Respondent no.2 committee with further direction to reconsider every aspects in accordance with law.

(a-1) That this Hon'ble Court be pleased to quash and set aside the order dated 16^th July, 2021 passed by the Respondent No.3 Collector thereby disqualifying the petitioner as a Member of Grampanchayat, Kasar Amboli, Tal. Mulshi, District Pune."

2. Briefly stated the facts are as under:-

2.1. Petitioner contested election from Ward No.4 of Grampanchayat Kasar Amboli, Tal. Mulshi, District Pune, reserved for Other Backward Class (for short "OBC"). Petitioner claims to belong to "Kunbi" caste which is recognised as OBC in the State of Maharashtra. The Divisional Officer, Maval - Mulshi Sub-Division, District Pune issued Caste Certificate dated 18^th December, 2020 to the Petitioner as belonging to Kunbi caste.

2.2. Respondent No.4 contested Grampanchayat election from Ward No.4 of Grampanchayat, Kasar Amboli. Petitioner was declared elected in the election held in January, 2021 from Ward No.4 whereas Respondent No.4 stood defeated from Ward No.4.

2.3. Respondent No.4 filed a complaint with Respondent No.2 - District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee (for short "Committee") against the Petitioner and challenged the Caste Certificate dated 18th December 2020 issued to the Petitioner by raising various issues pertaining to the genealogy of the Petitioner and the validity and genuineness of the documents filed by the Petitioner in support of his caste claim.

2.4. In view of the complaint, the Committee referred the case of the Petitioner to its Vigilance Cell for a detailed home, school and other enquiry as prescribed by law and called for its report. The Enquiry Officer submitted a detailed report dated 15^th March 2021 to the Committee.

2.5. The Committee issued show cause notice dated 16^th March 2021 to the Petitioner and directed the Petitioner to appear before the Committee for a hearing on 25^th March 2021. Petitioner was given a copy of the Vigilance Cell Report. Petitioner was specifically called upon to file his reply to the show cause notice to prove his caste claim and the documents filed in support thereto with respect to the birth extract of a son to the cognate ancestor i.e. Baap Kondiba Dhondhiba Shinde in village Form No.14 dated 4^th October 1918 and the death extract of the year 1927 showing the caste as "Kunbi", as these documents were not traced during the enquiry conducted by the Vigilance Cell in the Revenue record of village Kasar Amboli.

2.6. Petitioner filed reply dated 9th April 2021 to the show cause notice and appeared before the Committee. He submitted that the extracts pertaining to the year 1918 and 1927 in respect of his cognate