2025:BHC-AS:35780-DB

RAMESHWAR

LAXMAN DILWALE

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

RAMESHWAR

LAXMAN DILWALE

Date: 2025.08.20

12:05:13 +0530 WRIT PETITION NO.12621 OF 2023

Nitin Prakash Pund & Ors. .. Petitioners

Vs.

The State of Maharashtra & Ors. .. Respondents

Mr. Danish Patel i/b. Ms. Vaishali Suryawanshi, for the Petitioners.

Mr. Siddheshwar Kalel, AGP for Respondent Nos.1 to 3-State.

CORAM : SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR &

MANJUSHA DESHPANDE, JJ. DATE : 1st AUGUST 2025

Per, Shree Chandrashekhar, J. :

The petitioners are claiming that they belong to the Scheduled Tribe “Koli

Mahadev”. They are aggrieved by the order dated 14^th June 2022 by which the Sub-Divisional Officer of Vita within the district of Sangli dismissed the application for Caste Certificate to the petitioner nos.2 and 3 who are the sons of the petitioner no.1 on the ground that they did not furnish any pre-1950 document and their application for the Caste Certificate for the purpose of education was not supported by any Caste Validity Certificate of their family members. The Appeal moved by the petitioners before the Scheduled Tribes Caste Scrutiny Committee was also rejected by an order dated 9^th February 2023 observing that it was for the petitioners to prove that they belong to “Koli Mahadev” but they failed to discharge the burden by producing any pre-1950

document.

2. In the order dated 14^th June 2022, the Sub-Divisional Officer held as

under:

“Whereas Shri. Nitin Prakash Pund, resident of Lingivare, Taluka Atpadi, Dist-Sangli, has submitted an application under No. 4 to Maha E Seva Kendra Atpadi for obtaining a Scheduled Tribe certificate in his name, Koli

Mahadev.

Accordingly, under sub-rule (6) of Rule 5 of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Classes (Regulation of Issue of Caste Certificate and its Verification) Act, 2000, if the applicant submits the validity certificate of the blood relation of the applicant's father or first cousin or any other blood relation of the father issued by the Verification Committee, the competent authority shall issue a caste certificate, considering the certificate submitted by the applicant as valid evidence, without demanding any other document or evidence.

Whereas in the report No.5 from Tehsildar Atpadi, the applicant has submitted proof of residence before 6th September 1950. However, the report states that the applicant has not submitted any proof of belonging to the Koli Mahadev Scheduled Tribe before 1950. According to the documents in the case and the report from Tehsildar Atpadi, the applicant has not submitted any proof of belonging to the Koli Mahadev Scheduled Tribe before 1950. Nor has the applicant submitted any caste validity certificate of his close relative.

The reason is that your application dated 28/04/2022 for obtaining a Koli Mahadev caste certificate of your Anu tribe is being disposed of. However, in the evidence submitted by you, the caste Koli, as mentioned in the Maharashtra Government (Special Backward Classes) S.B.C.4 (1), if you demand a Koli caste certificate, the sald Koli caste certificate will be issued.

If the applicant is not satisfied with the decision, he/she should file an appeal within 30 days with the Commissioner, Director, Tribal Research and Training Institute, Pune.”

3. The Scheduled Tribes Certificate Scrutiny Committee while dismissing the statutory Appeal preferred by the petitioners observed as under:

“3. On perusing all the documents submitted by the appellant before the committee in the present case, the documentary evidence submitted by the appellant did not show any evidence of Scheduled Tribe status (school evidence, revenue evidence) prior to 1950. Also, the appellant could not prove his caste claim before the committee.

4. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vimukt Castes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes or Special Backward Classes (Regulation of Issue of Caste Certificate and its Verification) Act, 2000, under Section 8. I