1 CGHC010230882021 2026:CGHC:41531 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 3635 of 2021 Anil Kumar Prajapati S/o Shri Ramkaran Kumhar Aged About 40 Years R/o Near Sangam X - Ray, Aamakherwa Road, Manendragarh, District Koriya Chhattisgarh. ... Petitioner versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Department, Of Tribal Welfare, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan Atal Nagar, New Raipur Chhattisgarh. 2 - The Collector District Koriya Chhattisgarh. 3 - The Additional Collector And President District Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, District Koriya Chhattisgarh. 4 - Shri Prakash Tripathi S/o Shri R.P. Tripathi Aged About 40 Years R/o Aamakherwa Road, Manendragarh, District Koriya Chhattisgarh. ... Respondents (Cause-title taken from Case Information System) For Petitioner : Mr. Rohit Sharma and Mr. Abhishek K. Singh, Advocates For State/Respondents No.1 to 3 : Mr. Vivek Verma, Govt. Advocate For Respondent No.4 : Mr. Shikhar Sharma, Advocate Hon’ble Shri Amitendra Kishore Prasad, Judge Order on Board 24.09.2026 1. By filing the present petition, the petitioner assails the order dated 27.08.2021 (Annexure P-1) passed by Respondent No.3, whereby the OBC caste certificate issued in favour of the petitioner has been cancelled. The petitioner has prayed for following relief(s):- YOGESH TIWARI Digitally signed by YOGESH TIWARI Date: 2026.09.24 17:10:46 +0530 2 “(i) That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to allow the present writ petition and direct the Respondents to produce entire records pertaining to the present case for its kind perusal. (ii) That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate writ/order/direction to Respondents more particularly to Respondent No. 3 there by quashing the impugned order (Annexure P/1) bearing No. Jaa. Satya. /2021-22/961, Baikunthpur dated 27-08-2021 passed by Respondent No. 3 whereby the Caste Certificate of Petitioner belonging to OBC Category has been rejected / cancelled without following the due procedure prescribed under the law. (iii) That, any other order/relief which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit, proper and just in the facts and circumstances of the present case may also kindly be awarded to the petitioner in the ends of justice & equity. (iv) That, the cost of the petition may kindly also be awarded to the petitioners.” 2. Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner was issued an OBC caste certificate on 13.11.2019 by the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), Manendragarh, District Koriya. Subsequently, on the basis of a complaint made by Respondent No.4 questioning the social status of the petitioner, a notice dated 18.06.2021 was issued by the District Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, 3 requiring the petitioner to appear and produce the relevant documents. Pursuant thereto, the petitioner appeared before the Committee and submitted the documents in support of his claim. 3. Thereafter, upon consideration of the material placed before it, the District Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee passed the impugned order dated 27.08.2021, holding that the petitioner had failed to establish the requisite conditions for claiming the benefit of OBC status in the State of Chhattisgarh, and consequently cancelled the caste certificate issued in his favour. 4. Learned State Counsel submits that the present petition is not maintainable in view of the statutory alternative remedy available to the petitioner. It is submitted that the petitioner has an efficacious remedy of approaching the High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee against the order dated 27.08.2021 passed by the District Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee. He, therefore, submits that the petitioner may be relegated to the said statutory remedy. 5. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is willing to approach the concerned High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee and avail the statutory alternative remedy. He, however, submits that the petitioner is Leader of Opposition of the Municipal Corporation, Koriya, and that certain interim protection was granted in his favour by the Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 27.09.2021. It is submitted 4 that, in the event the said protection is not continued for a reasonable period, the very purpose of availing the statutory remedy would be rendered nugatory. 6. In this regard, the order dated 27.09.2021 passed by the Coordinate Bench of this Court is relevant, whereby, considering the submission regarding whether an opportunity of hearing was afforded to the petitioner and whether the other requirements of the Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Regulation of Social Status Certification) Act, 2013 had been duly complied with, operation of the order dated 27.08.2021 (Annexure P-1) was stayed. 7. Having considered the submissions of learned counsel for the parties and upon perusal of the material available on record, it transpires that the petitioner has an efficacious statutory remedy of approaching the High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee against the order passed by the District Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee. The petitioner himself has expressed his willingness to avail the said remedy. 8. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, the petitioner is directed to file an appeal/petition before the concerned High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee within a period of 15 days from today. The petitioner shall also be at liberty to file an application seeking interim protection/stay along with the said appeal/petition. 5 9. In the event the petitioner files the appeal/petition along with the application for interim relief within the aforesaid period of 15 days from the date of production of certified copy of this order, the interim order passed by the Coordinate Bench of this Court on 27.09.2021 shall remain operative for a period of one month from the date of filing of the appeal/petition, so as to enable the concerned High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee to consider and decide the application for interim relief in accordance with law. 10. It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case, and the concerned High Level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee shall consider the matter independently on its own merits and in accordance with law. 11. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the present petition stands disposed of. No order as to costs. Sd/- Sd/- Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Yogesh