Absence of parents' community certificates insufficient to reject application; authorities must verify relatives' certificates and documents.

Challenging the order passed by the first respondent rejecting the petitioner’s application for issuance of a Community Certificate, the present Writ Petition has been filed.

2.By consent of both parties, the Writ Petition is taken up for final disposal at the admission stage itself.

3.Mr.J.Ashok, learned Additional Government Pleader, accepts notice on behalf of the respondents.

4.The petitioner claims that she belongs to the Hindu Malaivedan community, which is recognized as a Scheduled Tribe, and had applied for issuance of a community certificate by submitting all necessary supporting documents. The field-level authorities, namely the Village Administrative Officer, Revenue Inspector, and Zonal Deputy Tahsildar, conducted enquiries and recommended her claim as genuine. However, the first respondent/District Revenue Officer rejected the application solely on the ground that the petitioner failed to produce community certificates of her parents.

5.The petitioner contends that the rejection is arbitrary and illegal, as her parents were illiterate and had not obtained such certificates. She has relied on other valid documents, including community certificates of close blood relatives, school records, Aadhaar Card, family card, and genealogical records to establish her community status. Despite consistent recommendations from subordinate authorities and the supporting materials, the application was rejected without proper reasoning. Hence, the petitioner has approached this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

6.Heard the learned counsel appearing on either side and perused the materials available on record.

7.On a perusal of the materials available on record, it is seen that the application of the petitioner has been rejected solely on the ground that proof of her parents’ community certificate has not been produced. Except for this, no other reason has been assigned. The documents placed on record indicate that close relatives of the petitioner have already been issued Scheduled Tribe Community Certificates. Therefore, merely because the petitioner has not produced her parents’ community certificates, the same cannot be a ground to reject her application in toto. The authority ought to have conducted a proper enquiry by examining the community status of the petitioner’s close relatives and other supporting documents, which has not been done in the present case.

8.In view of the above, the impugned order passed by the first respondent is set aside, and the matter is remanded back to the first respondent for fresh consideration. The first respondent is directed to consider all the documents submitted by the petitioner, including the community certificates of her relatives, and pass appropriate orders on merits and in accordance with law, within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

9.Accordingly, the Writ Petition stands allowed. There shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petition is closed.