1 2026:CGHC:22450 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 742 of 2020 Reserved on 2.4.2026 Pronounced on 13.05.2026 Ramashray Singh S/o Late Bhagirathi Singh, Aged About 54 Years R/o Kedarpur Near Pahuna Shop, Ambikapur, District Surguja Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Capital Complex, Atal Nagar, Nawa Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh 2 - High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chhattisgarh Raipur Through Its President, High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chhattisgarh Raipur Chhattisgarh 3 - High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee Chhattisgarh Raipur Through Its Secretary, High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chhattisgarh Raipur Chhattisgarh, 4 - Commissioner Tribal Welfare, Block 4D, Ground Floor, Indrawati Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Raipur Chhattisgarh 5 - Member Secretary-Cum-Director, High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Chhattisgarh Raipur Chhattisgarh SHYNA AJAY Digitally signed by SHYNA AJAY Date: 2026.05.15 16:31:14 +0530 2 6 - Collector Surguja Ambikapur, District Surguja, Chhattisgarh 7 – Director, Land Records, Indrawati Bhawan, Mantralaya, Capital Complex, Atal Nagar, Nawa Raipur District Raipur Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) (Cause Title downloaded from CIS Periphery) For Petitioner(s) : Mr Manoj Paranjpe, Senior Advocate with Mr. Sandeep Patel, Advocate For Respondent(s) : Mr. Ashutosh Shukla, Panel Lawyer S B: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad C A V Order 1. The petitioner assails the legality and validity of the impugned order dated 7.12.2019 (Annexure P/1) passed by the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. By way of the impugned order, the Committee has rejected the Caste Certificate issued in favour of the petitioner by the District Level Certificates Verification Committee regarding the ‘Gond’ (Scheduled Tribe) Community, as enlisted at Sl. No. 16 of the Presidential List for the State of Chhattisgarh. The High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee has erred in re-verifying the status of the petitioner without appreciating the fact that the District Level Certificates Verification Committee had already duly authenticated the caste of the petitioner and as a result, the Caste Certificate is free from any illegality or anomaly. A Caste Certificate issued by the District Level Certificates Verification Committee carries a presumption of validity and should not be 3 subjected to re-verification. Since the District Level Certificates Verification Committee duly verified the caste of the petitioner and issued the Caste Certificate after following due process of law, the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee cannot discard or reject the said Certificate in a casual or illegal manner. 2. The petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs in the petition : 1) That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ/writs, order/orders, direction/direc- tions quashing the impugned order dated 07.12.2019 (Annex.P/1) Issued by the Caste Scru- tiny Committee and the respondents may kindly be directed not to pass any order which is disadvanta- geous to the services of the petitioner. 2] That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ/writs, order/orders, direction/directions and the respondents may kindly be directed not to take any steps in pursuance of the order dated 07.12.2019 and they may further be directed not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner. 3] That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to grant any other relief(s), which is deemed fit and proper in the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case. 3. The aforementioned challenge has been made on the following factual backdrop : 4. The petitioner holds the substantive post of Superintendent, presently posted in the office of the Superintendent of Land Records, Surguja Division, Ambikapur. The petitioner was initially appointed on the post of Patwari vide order dated 12.7.1989 and was subsequently promoted to the post of Revenue Inspector vide 4 order dated 10.5.2014. The petitioner is a member of a Scheduled Tribe, belonging to the ‘Gond Community’. The petitioner’s forefathers, including his father and grandfather, have historically availed the benefits of Scheduled Tribe status. Earlier, a Caste certificate was issued in favour of the petitioner on 20.9.1984 after proper enquiry. It is contended that the petitioner was not initially appointed against a reserved vacancy, however, his status was subsequently verified by the competent authority. Thereafter, a Verification Certificate was issued by the District Level Certificates Verification Committee on 17.7.2014, which attained finality after a full-fledged enquiry. The State Government framed the Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Social Status Certification) Rules, 2013 (henceforth “the Rules, 2013”) under Section 19 of the Rules, 2013. Section 2(q) defines “Verification Committee”, which was constituted under Section 14 of the Rules, 2013. The District Level Certificate Verification Committee has conducted the enquiry under Rule 17 of the Rules, 2013 read with Section 6 of the the Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes & Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Social Status Certification) Act, 2013 and after due verification had issued the Verification Certificate in form 4(D)(1) of the Rules, 2013. However, all of a sudden, on a reference being made by the District Level Certificate Verification Committee following a preliminary enquiry, the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee initiated a second enquiry, subsequently, referring the 5 matter to the Vigilance Cell. In the investigation report submitted by the Vigilance Cell, the claim of the petitioner, with regard to his social status was found to be devoid of merit and ultimately, a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner. A detailed reply to the said show cause notice was submitted by the petitioner. The petitioner requested that the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee permit production of evidence as well as the examination and cross-examination of the witnesses. However, the Committee did not consider the said prayer. The petitioner in support of his claim filed the order of District Level Certificates Verification Committee, Verification Certificate, Geological Tree/Family Tree, Certificate issued by the Sarpanch, Domicile Certificate, Dakhil-Kharij Register of his elder brother, documents with regard to service of his father and other relevant documents. However, the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee, without considering the documents and reply submitted by the petitioner, passed the impugned order 5. It is further contended that the Vigilance Cell did not conduct an enquiry in light of the guidelines laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Madhuri Patil Vs. Additional Commissioner reported in (1994) 6 SCC 241. The concerned Inspector is mandated to visit the local place of residence and the original village from the candidate hails to verify anthropological and ethnological traits, rituals and customs. In this case, the Vigilance Cell never visited the petitioner’s place of origin (Village Kardega, Jashpur). Such a report is the backbone of the enquiry and its 6 absence renders the initiation of the proceedings void, as a proper vigilant report is a sine quo non for proceedings under the Rules, 2013. On the basis of the order passed by the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee, the Department issued a notice on 29.1.2020. This notice was issued with a malafide intention at the fag end of the career of the petitioner. Hence, this Petition. 6. Mr. Manoj Paranjpe, Senior Advocate along with Mr. Sandeep Patel, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the Caste Certificate of the biological brother of the petitioner was previously cancelled by the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee. Aggrieved by the said cancellation, the brother preferred WPS No.834/2020 (Ramashish Singh Vs. State of Chhattisgarh and others). The said writ petition was allowed and the cancellation was set-aside by a Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 17.2.2026. He submits that in the aforementioned case, this Court has categorically held that the Caste Certificate issued in favour of the petitioner’s real brother was in accordance with law and devoid of any illegality, that would warrant cancellation by the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee. He also submits that the petitioner has not been granted an opportunity to adduce evidence and the impugned order has been passed in violation of the principles of natural justice. In support of his submissions, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner heavily placed reliance on a judgment rendered in the matter of J. Chitra Vs. District Collector and Chairman, State Level Vigilance Committee, Tamil Nadu and others, 7 reported in (2021) 9 SCC 811, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that once a Caste Certificate has been issued after a due process of law, it cannot be subjected to reverification through repeated inquiries. 7. Per contra, Mr. Ashutosh Shukla, learned counsel for the State submits that upon a complaint, the petitioner’s Caste Certificate was verified and the matter was referred to the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee by the District Level Certificates Verification Committee. After due verification, the Committee found that the Certificate was not issued in accordance with law. He lastly submits that the Certificate was rightly cancelled, warranting no interference. 8. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and went through the records with utmost circumspection. 9. In order to effectively adjudicate the issue involved, it would be appropriate to reproduce Section 7 of the Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes & Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Social Status Certification) Act, 2013. Section 7 reads as under:- “7. High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee.- (1) The State Government shall constitute, by notification in the Official Gazette, one or more High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee or Committees, for conducting enquiry into Social Status Certificate(s) referred to it by District Level Certificates Verification Committee 8 under Section 6 or by the State Government, and it shall be the duty of the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee to examine the report of the District Level Certificates Verification Committee and to proceed in this matter as prescribed under Chapter IV of this Act. (2) The High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed : Provided that where the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee decides to arrive at an adverse finding, it shall not do so unless a reasonable opportunity of being heard is given to the person whose Social Status Certificate is disputed.” 10. In the matter of J. Chitra (supra), the following was held in para 10 : 10. In the instant case, an inquiry was conducted by the District-Level Vigilance Committee which has upheld the community certificate in favour of the appellant. The decision of the District-Level Vigilance Committee in the year 1999 has not been challenged in any forum. The recognition of the community certificate issued in favour of the appellant by the District Vigilance Committee having become final, the State Level Scrutiny Committee did not have jurisdiction to reopen the matter and remand for fresh consideration by the District-Level Vigilance Committee. The guidelines issued by G.O. No. 108 dated 12-9-2007 do not permit the State Level Scrutiny Committee to reopen cases which have become final. The purpose of verification of caste certificates by Scrutiny Committees is to avoid false and bogus claims. Repeated inquiries for verification of caste certificates would be detrimental to the members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Reopening of inquiry into caste certificates can 9 be only in case they are vitiated by fraud or when they were issued without proper inquiry. 11. Reverting to the facts of the present case, it is quite vivid that the District Level Certificates Verification Committee had issued the Caste Certificate to the petitioner in respect of the ‘Gond’ Community after due verification and satisfaction. Such a Certificate cannot be lightly re-verified unless and until a glaring mistake is evident. However, acting upon a subsequent complaint, the District Level Certificates Committee conducted a preliminary enquiry and referred the matter to the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee and ultimately, the impugned order was passed. In light of the above, the action of the Committee in reopening a concluded verification without the existence of any glaring mistake is unwarranted. 12. Furthermore, recently, the Coordinate Bench of this Court has already adjudicated upon the social status of the petitioner’s biological brother, holding that he belongs to the Gond Community and subsequently, setting aside the Committee’s cancellation of his certificate as illegal. In view of this recent judicial pronouncement on the same family lineage, the impugned order is rendered unsustainable in the eyes of law. 13. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, particularly in light of the principles enunciated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in J. Chitra (supra) and the order dated 17.2.2026 passed by the Coordinate Bench in Ramashish (supra), this Court is of the 10 opinion that re-verification by the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee is only permissible if there is evidence of clear suspicion, doubt or fraud. In the absence of such vitiating factors, the Committee lacks the jurisdiction to disturb the petitioner’s settled status. 14. For the foregoing reasons, this Court concludes that the High Power Certification Scrutiny Committee committed a manifest illegality in cancelling the Caste Certificate of the petitioner for the ‘Gond’ Community. 15. Resultantly, the Writ Petition is Allowed and the impugned order dated 7.12.2019 (Annexure P/1) is hereby quashed. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Shyna Ajay