1 / 9 2025:CGHC:47906 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 862 of 2016 • Shashi Prasad Sahu S/o Shri Pradhan Sahu, Aged About 54 Years R/o Old Godri Para, Post Office Kurasia Colliery Chirmiri Police Station Bada Bazar District Korea Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner Versus 1. State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Tribal Welfare Department, Mahandi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Capital Complex, New Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh 2. Director, Tribal Research Institute, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar, Sector 4, Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh 3. High Level Cast Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chhattisgarh Raipur Through Its President, High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee. Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Capital Complex, New Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh, 4. Life Insurance Corporation, Through Its Branch Manager Chirimiri District Koriya Chhattisgarh, District : Koriya (Baikunthpur), Chhattisgarh ... Respondents For Petitioner : Mr. Shobhit Koshta, Advocate on behalf of Mr. Sunil Otwani, Advocate For Respondents-State : Mr. Ajay Kumrani, Panel Lawyer Hon'ble Shri Justice Parth Prateem Sahu ORDER ON BOARD 17/09/2025 1. Petitioner has filed this writ petition questioning the legality, validity and propriety of the order passed by High Power Caste Scrutiny Committee (for short “the Committee”) dated 12.02.2016 by which the Caste Certificate of Scheduled Tribe issued in favour of petitioner has been cancelled on the ground that in the Gazette Notification issued by the PAWAN KUMAR JHA Digitally signed by PAWAN KUMAR JHA 2 / 9 Government of Madhya Pradesh ‘Thariya’ caste is not found to be mentioned in the list of Scheduled Tribes. 2. Facts relevant for disposal of this writ petition, in brief, are that petitioner claiming himself to be the member of Thariya/ Thoria community, which comes within the category of Scheduled Tribe, has applied for issuance of a Caste Certificate and the same was issued in his favour by the Tahsildar, Pathalgaon, District Raigarh (M.P.) (now Chhattisgarh) on 25.05.1990. Vide order dated 12.09.1991, petitioner was appointed on the post of Assistant in the Life Insurance Corporation of India in the Scheduled Tribe quota. On 31.08.2009 a complaint was received by the concerned revenue authorities of the State Government with respect to correctness of Caste Certificate of petitioner. On the basis of the said complaint, proceedings was initiated by the High Power Certificate Scrutiny Committee for validating the Caste Certificate of petitioner and show-cause notice was issued to him on 11.12.2014. Petitioner had not submitted his reply to the notice. Thereafter the matter was handed over to the Vigilance Cell of the scrutiny committee to inquire into complaint and submitting its report. During course of inquiry, petitioner submitted application along with certain documents in support of showing his caste to be Thariya ie., copy of application form of LIC India, Raipur Division, Letter of appointment, Caste Certificate, Admission Register of Government Primary School, Tildega Block Patthalgaon, District Jashpur, Transfer Certificate of Government Post Graduate College Ambikapur, M.P., Family Tree from the concerned Patwari, and missal record of the year 1931-32 showing names of his forefathers and his caste to be Thariya/ Thoriya. The Vigilance Cell after inquiry submitted report dated 29.10.2014 holding that Thoria caste has been declared as backward class in the list at Sr. No. 83 issued on 02.04.1997 in the revised order of backward class issued on 26.12.1984 by the 3 / 9 Tribal, Harijan and Backward Class Welfare Department, Bhopal and similarly, in the amendment order issued by the Madhya Pradesh Government, General Administration Department (Harijan/Tribal Cell), dated 31.01.1978, in Sr. No. 16 of the Scheduled Tribe list, the Tharia and Thoriya castes are mentioned as sub-castes of Gond. However, the Thariya and Thoria castes are not mentioned in the list of Scheduled Tribe issued in the year 1950 by the Madhya Pradesh Government. Hence, the caste of petitioner is not clear. On receipt of the report of Vigilance Cell, petitioner was served with notice of hearing dated 24.11.2015. Thereafter, by the order impugned, the Committee cancelled the Caste Certificate of petitioner as per the provisions of Rule 23 (2) and (5) of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Certification of Social Status) Act, 2013, issued by the Government of Chhattisgarh. Petitioner filed present writ petition assailing cancellation of her Caste Certificate and prayed for following reliefs. “10.1 It is, kindly prayed that this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to callfor the entire records concerning petitioner’s case from the possession of the respondents the High Level Committee regarding the Caste Certificate for its kind perusal. 10.2 This Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a suitable writ/ directions for quashing the order dated 12.02.2016 passed by respondent No. 3. 10.3 This Hon’ble Court may further be pleased to issue appropriate writ of mandamus restrainign the respondent no. 4 from taking any coercive action of dismissal of the petitioner from service etc. pursuant to the impugned order dated 12.02.2016. 10.4 Any other relief/reliefs, which this Hon’ble Court may think fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case with cost of the petition, may also be please be granted to the petitioner.” 3. This writ petition came up for hearing on 06.04.2016 and an interim order in favour of petitioner was passed holding that the impugned order dated 4 / 9 12.02.2016 shall not be made a basis to act against petitioner by respondent No. 4 subject to the condition that no further benefit of Scheduled Tribe shall be granted to the petitioner. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the order Annexure P-1 passed by the Committee invalidating Caste Certificate of petitioner is not sustainable and it needs to be set aside on the sole ground of defect in composition of the Committee. He submits that one of the members of the Committee namely Shri Ashish Kumar Bhatt is shown to be functioning as ‘Chairperson’ and ‘Vice Chairperson’ of the Committee, which is not permissible and therefore, there being violation of the mandate in case of Kumari Madhuri Patil vs. Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development, reported in (1994) 6 SCC 241, the entire procedure adopted by the Committee got vitiated. He submitted that the case of petitioner is squarely covered with the judgment passed by this Court in WPC No. 182 of 2017 between Smt. Harshit Das vs. State of Chhattisgrh and others on 24.05.2024. He contended that in the said case also Ashish Kumar Bhatt, one of the Members in Annexure P-1 has acted in dual capacity and therefore this Court in the said judgment has quashed the order of the Committee. 5. On the other hand, learned State Counsel opposed the submissions of learned counsel for petitioner and submitted that after taking into consideration the entire material placed before it including the report of Vigilance Cell, the Committee found that the caste of petitioner is not clear as it does not found to be mentioned in the list of Scheduled Tribe in the notification issued by the State Government and accordingly, cancelled his Caste Certificate. Hence, the entire procedure as laid down in the case of Madhuri Patil (supra) has been followed by the Committee before passing the order impugned. On a specific query being asked by this Court with respect to composition of the Committee, 5 / 9 he does not dispute that the person nominated as Chairperson and Vice- Chairperson in the Committee is one and the same. 6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the documents placed on record. 7. Before entering into merits of case, it would be profitable to see whether composition of the Committee invalidating the Caste Certificate of petitioner was in accordance with the law or not. 8. Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Madhuri Patil (supra) has streamlined the procedure for issuance of Social Status Certificates, their scrutiny and their approval. In the said judgment, the State Governments have been directed to constitute a committee of three Officers namely (1) Additional or Joint Secretary or any officer higher in rank of the Director of the concerned Department (2) the Director Social Welfare/ Tribal Welfare/Backward Class Welfare as the case may be, (3) and in case of Scheduled Castes, another Officer, who has intimate knowledge in the verification and issuance of the Social Status Certificates, for verification of the Caste Certificate. Relevant portion of Para-13 of the decision in Madhuri Patil’s case (supra) reads as under:- “13. … For that purpose, it is necessary to streamline the procedure for the issuance of social status certificates, their scrutiny and their approval, which may be the following: 1. x x x x x 2. x x x x x 3. x x x x x 4. All the State Governments shall constitute a Committee of three officers, namely, (1) an Additional or Joint Secretary or any officer higher in rank of the Director of the department concerned, (11) the Director, Social Welfare/Tribal Welfare/Backward Class Welfare, as the case may be, and (III) in the case of Scheduled Castes another officer who has intimate knowledge in the verification and issuance of the social status certificates. 6 / 9 9. The State Government enacted ‘The Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Social Status Certification) Act, 2013, which came into force w.e.f. 23.04.2013. 10. Pursuant thereto, the State Government vide Notification dated 22.08.2013 constituted the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee at the State level for verification of Caste Certificates and notified that the Committee shall consists of following persons:- No. Nominated officers in the Committee Chairperson / Member (1) (2) (3) 1. Principal Secretary / Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh, Tribal & Scheduled Caste Development Department Chairperson 2. Commissioner / Director, Tribal Research and Training Institute, Chhattisgarh, Raipur Vice Chairperson 3. Commissioner / Director, Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development Department, Chhattisgarh, Bilaspur. Member Secretary 4. Two officers nominated by Commissioner/Director, out of Joint Director/ Deputy Director/Deputy Director/ Assistant Director/ Research Officer/Assistant Research Officer, posted in Tribal Research and Training Institute, Chhattisgarh, Raipur Members 11. The Notification dated 28.08.2013 specifically mandates that verification of social status of a person shall be done through the Committee constituted as prescribed under notification issued by the State Government under the Act of 2013 which was in compliance of the directives of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Madhuri Patil’s case (supra). The Notification lays down the composition of the Committee shall be “Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Member Secretary and two Members to be nominated by the Commissioner/Director among the Joint Director /Deputy Director/Assistant Director/ Research Officer/ Assistant Research Officer, posted in Tribal Research and Training Institute, Chhattisgarh, Raipur”. According to this Notification, the “Commissioner/Director, Tribal Research and Training Institute Chhattisgarh, 7 / 9 Raipur” will be eligible to be the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee. The officers of the particular departments, as mentioned in the Committee, are ex-officio members of the Committee. 12. The composition of the Committee which canceled the Caste Certificate of the petitioner herein by the impugned order is thus:- 1. Ashish Kumar Bhatt Chairperson 2. Ashish Kumar Bhatt Vice Chairperson 3. Rajesh Sukumar Toppo Member Secretary 4. G.M. Jha Member 5. N.S. Rajput Member 13. From the above it is seen that composition of the Committee constituted by the State Government by the particular officer holding particular post are ex- officio members of the Committee. The quorum of the Committee who verified the Caste Certificate of the petitioner, consists of Shri Ashish Kumar Bhatt, the then Secretary, Tribal & Scheduled Castes Development Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, who was ‘Chairperson’ of the Committee and also acted as ‘Vice Chairperson’. As such, the verification, in fact, was done by the Committee of five members, one acting in dual capacity. It means that the Committee was constituted by four persons only and not five. It is just impermissible because the Vice Chairperson of the Committee had to be the Commissioner/Director, Tribal Research and Training Institute Chhattisgarh, Raipur. On principle, one person cannot act in dual capacity and cannot be a mixture of two characters. 14. In the Notification dated 22.08.2013 it is expressly made clear that the Committee shall consists of Five Members and out of which, the Vice Chairperson of the Committee must be the Commissioner/ Director, Tribal Research and Training Institute Chhattisgarh, Raipur. The Notification nowhere authorizes or empowers the Chairperson of the Committee to discharge the function of Vice-Chairperson apart from his functions. Thus, there is clear intent to make a distinction between ‘Chairperson’ and ‘Vice 8 / 9 Chairperson’ in the Notification dated 22.08.2013 and the State Government presumed to have its reason for making this specific distinction for the nomination of the members of the Committee including Vice-Chairperson. 15. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of Madhuri Patil (supra) while laying down the procedure for scrutiny of Caste Certificate etc. has categorically held that verification of the Caste Certificate shall be done by the properly constituted caste scrutiny committee. A 'properly constituted' Committee means that one specified in Notification dated 22.08.2013. When the Hon’ble Supreme Court has categorically laid down the parameters to be followed while scrutinizing a Caste Certificate and the Committee is also constituted by the State Government in consonance with the directives of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Madhuri Patil’s case (supra), any such deviation therefrom would in effect nullify the entire proceedings. 16. To hold the inquiry impartially and fairly, it is necessary that the Committee must be constituted in terms of the Notification dated 22.08.2013, that is to say, Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Member Secretary and two Members of the Committee should be different persons, as mentioned in the Notification dated 22.08.2013 because each of the Committee members has his own role to play drawing from his experience and knowledge and it is the application of mind of all the members, will decide the fate of inquiry. If the composition is not complete as notified, it may result in imbalance in the Committee and may lead to a skewed outcome. 17. It is well settled that when a thing is required to be done in a particular manner then it must be done in that manner only. In the matter of Nazir Ahmed v. King Emperor, reported in AIR 1936 PC 253 (2), it was observed that where a power is given to do a certain thing in a certain way, the thing must be done in that way or not at all. Other methods of performance are necessarily forbidden. Hence, in the opinion of this Court, one member of the Committee cannot act in dual capacity. 9 / 9 18. The composition of Committee for verification of social status certificate of petitioner being not in conformity with the Notification dated 22.08.2013, renders all subsequent steps invalid. It is well said axiom that “when the foundation falls, the edifice which has been developed on the foundation, must go." 19. Being so, for want of requisite quorum constituting a High Level Certification Scrutiny Committee, as prescribed in the Notification dated 22.08.2013 issued in terms of the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of Kumari Madhuri Patil’s case (supra), the proceeding initiated against the petitioner by the Committee which culminated into passing of impugned order invalidating her Caste Certificate, is not sustainable since it has not been passed by the Committee having required quorum and therefore, the same is liable to be set aside. 20. In the above circumstance, I am of the considered opinion that there is no need to advert to all other questions, which had been argued by learned counsel for the respective parties, touching the merits and demerits of the matter. 21. In the result, writ petition is allowed. Impugned order is quashed. The matter is remanded back for fresh consideration by the properly constituted High Power Caste Scrutiny Committee in conformity with the Notification dated 22.08.2013 issued pursuant to the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in case of Madhuri Patil (supra) and to pass fresh order after providing opportunity of hearing to the petitioner as envisaged under the Act of 2013 and the Rules of 2013. 22. Certified copy as per rules. Sd/- (Parth Prateem Sahu) Judge pwn