APHC010083802023 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NYAPATHY VIJAY WRIT PETITION NO: 4155 OF 2023 Between: 1. YEJJU SAI HARI KRISHNA, S/o Suryanarayana, Age. 22 yrs, Occ. Student, R/o D.No.1-254/a, Pidathamamidi Village, Gangavaram Mandal, Alluri Seetha Rama Raju District. 2. Yejju Sai Sri Charan,, S/o Suryanarayana, Age. 20 yrs, Occ. Student, R/o D.No.1-254/a, Pidathamamidi Village, Gangavaram Mandal, Alluri Seetha Rama Raju District. ...Petitioners AND 1. THE STATE OF AP, Re. by its Prl. Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Secratariat, Velagapudi, Guntur District. 2. The District Collector, Alluri Seetha Rama Raju District at Paderu. 3. The Tahsildar, Gangavaram (Agency) Mandal, Alluri Seetha Rama Raju District. ...Respondents Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased to issue order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of MANDAMUS declaring the endorsement dt. 14.02.2023 issued by the 3rd respondent vide 2 application No.CGC012347377354 and CGC012347377337 rejecting the claim of the petitioners for issuance of integrated caste certificates (ST Kondakapu) as wholly illegal, arbitrary and also in violation of principles of natural justice and consequently set aside the endorsement dt. 14.02.2023 issued by the 3rd respondent and thereby directing the 3rd respondent to consider the case of the petitioners for issuance of caste certificate (ST Kondakapu) basing on the caste certificates possessed by the family members of the petitioners in the interest of justice and pass IA NO: 1 OF 2023 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the 3rd respondent to issue integrated caste certificate (ST Kondakapu) to the petitioners basing on the caste certificates possessed by the father and granfather of the petitioners pending disposal of the above writ petition and pass IA NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to grant leave to the petitioner herein/Respondent No. 3 in the Writ Petition No. 4155 of 2023 to file counter affidavit in the above Writ Petition and pass Counsel for the Petitioners: K VENKATESH Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR REVENUE Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR SOCIAL WELFARE The Court made the following order: 3 THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NYAPATHY VIJAY W.P.No.4155 of 2023 O R DE R: The Writ Petition is filed questioning the rejection of issuing Integrated Caste Certificates (ST Kondakapu) vide impugned Order 14.02.2023 passed by the Respondent No.3 vide application No.CGC012347377354 and CGC012347377337 as illegal and arbitrary. 2. The Petitioners are the children of Yejju Suryanarayana and Vijaya Durga. It is stated that they belong to „Kondakapu‟, a Scheduled Tribe Community, and reside in Pidathamamidi Village, Gangavaram Mandal, Alluri Seetha Rama Raju District. 3. The grandfather of the Petitioners by name "Ramakrishna s/o Seethapathi" was recognized as belonging to the Kondakapu Scheduled Tribe Community and was issued a Community Certificate by the Tahsildar of Yellavaram on 17.10.1984. In recognition of the same, the father of the Petitioner „Suryanarayana‟ was also issued a Community Certificate by the jurisdictional Tahsildar on 13.02.2007. 4. The Petitioner No. 1, who is the brother of the Petitioner No. 2, was also issued Community Certificate as he belongs to the Konda Kapu ST Community on 08.04.2006. On advice, Petitioner No. 1 again applied for issuance of a fresh Integrated Community Certificate as sought by the Educational Authority, 4 and Petitioner No. 2 also applied for the said certificate for educational purposes. The said applications were rejected vide the impugned Order dated 14.02.2023 on the ground that caste enquiry is pending before the District Level Scrutiny Committee (for short, 'D.L.S.C.') and hence, the present Writ Petition. 5. In the Counter Affidavit filed by the Respondent No.3, it is stated that the Petitioners had not submitted any documentary evidence such as birth and death extracts prior to 1950, genealogical trees, details of marital relations or information regarding the origin of their forefathers/ancestors in the Agency Tracts, except for school records and manual Caste Certificates issued in the name of their father and grandfather. It is further stated that the genuineness of the Caste Certificate issued by the previous Tahsildar on the surname “Yejju” is under enquiry before the District Level Scrutiny Committee (DLSC), and the manual Caste Certificates produced by the Petitioners are not traceable in the office records. It is further stated that the caste enquiry of the Petitioners‟ paternal uncle Sri Yejju Venkateswara Rao, S/o Ramulu, along with 8 family members of the Petitioners and others is pending before the D.L.S.C., and therefore, the impugned Order sought to be sustained. 6. Learned counsel for the Petitioners submits that the Community Certificates issued in favour of the grandfather and father of the Petitioners are not called in question and that the D.L.S.C enquiry was vis-à-vis the fraudulent Caste Certificates 5 submitted by „Yejju Venkateswara Rao and his family members who are among the 32 persons, are not related to the Petitioners in any way whatsoever. He further submits that even otherwise, the enquiry before DLSC has been pending since 2018, and the delay in the conclusion of the enquiry itself is a ground not to reject the Community Certificate to the Petitioners. 7. The learned Assistant Government Pleader submits that there are claims of fraudulent Community Certificates issued and enquiry of this nature would take time and therefore, he submits that the Writ Petition may be dismissed.. 8. Heard the learned respective counsel. 9. There is no dispute to the genuineness of the Community Certificate issued in favour of the grandfather and father of the Petitioners. Petitioner No. 1 was also issued a Konda Kapu ST Community Certificate on 08.04.2006. The Hon‟ble Supreme Court in “State of Bihar and others vs. Sumit Anand1, upheld the Caste Certificate of the Petitioner therein on the premise that the father, grandfather, mother as well as maternal uncle were issued Caste Certificates as belonging to „Gond‟ Community. Paragraph No.6 of the Judgment is extracted below: “We have perused the findings recorded by the Division Bench as well as the Single Judge of the High Court. In view 1 (2005) 12 SCC 248 6 of the fact that the Respondent‟s father, grandfather, mother and maternal uncle had all been granted the Certificate certifying that they belong to the „Gond‟ community, we see no reason to come to a conclusion other than the one arrived at by the High Court to the effect that the respondent was entitled to issuance of the Caste Certificate”. 10. Similarly, in this case also, the Caste Certificates of father and grandfather being not disputed, it would not be open to the authorities to deny Caste Certificates to the Petitioners. Therefore, the present Writ Petition is disposed of with the following directions: i) The Respondents shall consider the case of the Petitioners for issuing Integrated Community Certificates. ii) There shall be no order as to costs. As a sequel, the miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this case shall stand closed. __________________ NYAPATHY VIJAY, J Date: 16.04.2026 eha 7 THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE NYAPATHY VIJAY W.P.Nos.4155 /2023 Dt. 16.04.2026 eha