Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 1441 OF 2013 Bhupendra Jagannath Patil aged 38 years, residing at Sector 34, Kamothe, Tal. Panvel, Dist. Raigad-410209. … Petitioner Versus 1. State of Maharashtra through its Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai. 2. Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Konkan Division, Thane through its Member Secretary, having its office at Vartak Nagar, Opp. Kores Company, Vedant Complex, Vartak Nagar, Thane (E), Dist. Thane 3. Sub Divisional Officer, Alibag, Sub Division, Alibag, Dist. Raigad 4. Airports Authority of India through its Deputy General Manager, H.R. having its office at Western Region Hqrs New Airport Colony, Vile Parle (E), Mumbai 400 099. .… Respondents **** Mr.R.K. Mendadkar a/w Mr.Jagdish C. Kawale, for the Petitioner. Mr. Ajay Khaire a/w Ms. Meenal Wadhwa, Ms. Priya Kumari i/b The Law Point, for the Respondent No.4 Mr. A.I. Patel, Addl. GP a/w Smt. D.S.Deshmukh, AGP, for Respondent-State. [ **** 1 URMILA PRAMOD INGALE Digitally signed by URMILA PRAMOD INGALE Date: 2026.02.03 18:06:38 +0530 Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt CORAM : M.S.KARNIK & S.M.MODAK, JJ. DATE : 02nd FEBRUARY 2026 ORAL JUDGMENT (PER M.S.KARNIK, J. ) : 1. The order passed by the respondent no.2- Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee (‘Scrutiny Committee’, for short) invalidating the tribe claim of the petitioner as belonging to ‘Malhar Koli, Scheduled Tribe’ is under challenge. The Scrutiny Committee, by the impugned order, held that though the documents relied by the petitioner are pre-constitutional documents of blood relatives from the paternal side and have probative value, the same cannot be relied upon in support of his case as the petitioner’s school leaving certificate records his caste as ‘Mahadeo Koli’, whereas the documents relied upon by the petitioner of his blood relatives records the caste as ‘Malhar Koli’. This inconsistency in the caste entries found in the school record of the petitioner with that of his blood relatives is the reason for invalidating the caste claim of the petitioner. 2. We have perused the Vigilance Cell report and the order passed by the Scrutiny Committee. Learned AGP appearing 2 Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt for the respondent-State invited our attention to the impugned order as well as the affidavit in reply filed on behalf of the respondents. Learned AGP submitted that when, in the school records of the petitioner of recent origin, the entry recorded is ‘Mahadeo Koli’, then, this by itself is sufficient to invalidate the tribe claim of the petitioner as ‘Koli Malhar’. It is further submitted that the respondent no.2-Scrutiny Committee has found that the petitioner has not been able to prove the affinity test. According to learned AGP the impugned order is well reasoned which does not call for any interference. 3. Heard learned counsel for the parties. We have perused the memo of petition, the materials on record, the impugned order and affidavit in reply filed by the respondents. 4. Mahadev Hiraji Patil is the cousin grandfather of the petitioner. The birth extract indicates his caste as Malhar Koli. The date of the entry is 02/06/1933. The said entry has been duly verified by the Vigilance Cell. There is nothing on record to show that the said document or the entry is doubtful. 5. The next document is that of petitioner’s grandfather from paternal side. Janardan Hira Patil was admitted to the 3 Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt primary school. His tribe claim is recorded as Koli Malhar. The said entry is dated 10/10/1935 which has been verified by the Vigilance Cell. 6. The petitioner’s father is Jagannath Janardan Patil who was admitted to the primary school wherein the caste is recorded as Koli Malhar. This entry is dated 11/06/1958 and has been duly verified by the Vigilance Cell. 7. Moreover, the uncle of the petitioner from the paternal side, Eknath Malhari Patil, was admitted in the primary school where his tribe claim was shown as Koli Malhar. This entry is dated 11/06/1958 and has been verified by the Scrutiny Committee. 8. The record thus reveals that there are two pre- constitutional documents duly verified by the Vigilance Cell. The relationship of the petitioner with them is not in dispute. 9. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 came into force on 20/09/1976. So far as the State of Maharashtra is concerned, the entry no. 30- ‘Koli Malhar’ is notified as Scheduled Tribe throughout the State of Maharashtra. Thus, we find that apart from the pre-constitutional 4 Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt documents in support of the petitioner’s case, even records pertaining to the petitioner’s father as well as his uncle from paternal side are prior to the coming into force of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976. 10. The reason why these documents are discarded by the Scrutiny Committee is that in the school record of the petitioner for the year 1984, the petitioner’s caste is shown as ‘Koli Mahadeo’. It is pertinent to bear in mind that the petitioner had approached the respondent no.2- Scrutiny Committee for validating the caste claim as belonging to Koli Malhar, Scheduled Tribe. The enquiry of the Scrutiny Committee should have been restricted to whether petitioner’s claim as belonging to ‘Koli Malhar, Scheduled Tribe’, is to be validated or not. Only on the basis that the petitioner’s school records indicate the entry as Koli Mahadev, the petitioner’s tribe claim has been invalidated. This approach of the Scrutiny Committee is erroneous. The Scrutiny Committee has not found the documents aforementioned to be doubtful and in fact the Vigilance Cell has verified these documents. The finding of the Scrutiny Committee that the caste entry in the school records of the petitioner is inconsistent with the aforementioned documents 5 Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt and hence, does not support the caste claim of the petitioner, is completely untenable. The approach of Scrutiny Committee is therefore completely misconceived in proceeding on the premise that as the petitioner’s entry in the school record is inconsistent with the material evidence produced, the petitioner’s claim has to be invalidated. 11. The affinity test is not a "litmus test" to decide a caste claim and is not an essential part of the verification process in every case. To support this position we make a profitable reference to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti Vs. State of Maharashtra and ors.1 12. The pre-constitutional documents relied upon by the petitioner as well as the documents which are dated prior to the coming into force of The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 duly verified by the Vigilance Cell are relied upon such documents are of great probative value. The Scrutiny Committee should have validated the caste claim of the petitioner having regard to these documents produced by the petitioner. 1 (2023) 16 SCC 415 6 Ingale 5-WP-1441-13.odt 13. The petition is therefore allowed. 14. The impugned order is quashed and set aside. 15. The Scrutiny Committee is directed to issue a certificate of validity to the petitioner as belonging to ‘Koli Malhar, Scheduled Tribe’ within a period of 6 weeks from the date of communication of this order. (S.M.MODAK, J.) (M.S.KARNIK, J.) 7