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2025 Supreme(Online)(MP) 8156
HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
SHRI PRANAY VERMA, J
BAHADUR SINGH PANWAR AND OTHERS – Appellant
Versus
THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS – Respondent
WRIT PETITION No. 35656 of 2025
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Shri Sunil Chouhan
For the Respondents: Shri Kushagra Jain
Caste determination must adhere to constitutional provisions and judicial precedents, outweighing local administrative interpretations.
Headnote:(A) Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 - Caste Certificate - Petitioners claim membership of Mogia community, acknowledged as Scheduled Tribe per Presidential Notification - Orders refusing certificate quashed due to reliance on incorrect distinctions made by authorities. (Paras 1, 10, 11)
(B) Caste Verification - Significance of affinity tests offset by adherence to historical legal statutes regarding caste classification. (Paras 8, 26)
Facts of the case:
Petitioners, claiming to be members of Mogia caste, sought Scheduled Tribe certificates, but were incorrectly classified as Scheduled Caste. Past cases recognized Mogia as Scheduled Tribe. Legal ambiguities arose due to conflicting State circulars and research findings.
Findings of Court:
Revenue authorities failed to appropriately assess caste claims based on evidence and established precedents. Past decisions bolstered petitioners’ standings. Need for correct classifications emphasized, following established legal frameworks.
Issues: The primary issue revolved around the accurate classification of Mogia community as Scheduled Tribe versus Caste and the consequences thereof for caste certificate issuance.
Ratio Decidendi: The court upheld that legal definitions and historical references take precedence over local administrative interpretations. Previous judgments demonstrated that failure to recognize the Mogia community as Scheduled Tribe violated legal clarity. Hence, there was no infringement present in the original order upholding the petitioners' claims.
Result: Writ petition allowed; caste certificates to be issued.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. petitioners claim membership in mogia caste. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. legal standing of mogia as a scheduled tribe is established. (Para 3 , 4) |
| 3. court emphasizes adherence to constitutional provisions over administrative errors. (Para 5) |
ORDER
The petitioners before this Court have filed present petition being aggrieved by order dated 07.03.2025 (Annexure - P/2) by which the Sub Divisional Officer, Javad, District Neemuch, respondent No.3 has refused to issue Caste Certificate in favour of the petitioners by treating them to be belonging to Scheduled Tribe and also by order dated 24.07.2025 (Annexure P/1) passed by Appellate Authority who affirmed the aforesaid impugned order.
2. The petitioners are undoubtedly a member of 'Mogia' caste and 'Mogia' caste has been included in Scheduled Tribe Category at Entry No.16 in the Presidential Notification issued by the State of Madhya Pradesh under the provisions of Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 . The respondents in fact are treating the petitioners as a member belonging to Scheduled Caste.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners has drawn the attention of this Court towards a judgment delivered in the case of State of M.P. & Others Vs. Dule Singh Solanki & Others reported in 2014(1) MPHT 331 (DB). In the aforesaid case, there was a similar controversy involved and the persons belonging to 'Mogia' caste were not being treated as Scheduled Tribe. The Division Bench of this Court in the aforesaid case in paragraphs No.3 to 9 has held as under:-
"3. Sole respondent Dule Singh Solanki claiming himself to be a member of Mogia Caste, submitted an application dated 24.11.11 before the Sub Divisional Officer, Revenue Tehsil Tarana District Ujjain for issuance of a caste certificate. It was stated in the application that Mogia Caste has been included as a Scheduled Tribe as per the Presidential Notification issued under the provisions of Constitution (Schedule Tribe) Order 1950. The application of the sole respondent was processed and a report was obtained from Patwari of the village. The Patwari has submitted his report after due enquiry to the Naib Tehsildar, Tarana on 18.12.11 duly certifying that the sole respondent Dule Singh Solanki is a member of Mogia Tribe. It was also reflected in the Patwari's report that based upon the pre-independence land record documents, the caste of the sole respondent is Mogia and statement of villagers was also recorded as well as a Panchnama was also prepared. The Naib Tehsildar forwarded the report of the Patwari to the Sub- Divisional Officer with a recommendation for issuing a caste certificate treating Dule Singh Solanki as a member of Scheduled Tribe category. The Sub Divisional Officer, however has rejected the petitioner's claim for issuance of a caste certificate of schedule tribe category vide order dated 4.1.12. The sole respondent being aggrieved by the order dated 4.1.12 preferred a revision petition under Section 50 of M.P. Land Revenue Code, 1959, however the same was dismissed by the Collector, District Ujjain and being aggrieved by the order passed by the Sub Divisional Officer dated 4.1.12 and the order passed by the Collector dated 30th April, 2012, a writ petition preferred before this Court. A ground was raised by the petitioner therein i.e. in WP No.9296/12 that as per Constitution (Scheduled Tribe) Order 1950 'Mogia Caste' in the State of Madhya Pradesh at item number 16 finds place and its a Scheduled Tribe. It was also argued that in a similar case, the Division Bench of this Court i.e. in the case of Krashnapalsing and Ors. Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and Ors [WP No.6762/2007 (PIL)] decided on 23.1.2008 has held that the Mogia is a Scheduled Tribe in the entire State of Madhya Pradesh. It was also brought to the notice of the learned Single Judge that all the relatives of the sole respondent Dule Singh Solanki have been issued a caste certificate certifying them as a member of Scheduled Tribe Mogia.
4. A reply was f
