2026:UHC:229 SL. No. Dat e Of f ice Not es, r ep or t s, or d er s or p r oceed in g s or d ir ect ion s an d Reg ist r ar ’s or d er w it h Sig n at u r es COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS W PMS 4 0 / 2 0 2 6 Hon ’ble Man oj Ku m ar Tiw ar i, J. Mr. Dushyant Mainali, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. Ganesh Datt Kandpal, Deputy AG, for the State of Uttarakhand. Mr. Ishwari Datt Paliwal, Standing Counsel, for the State of U.P. Mr. Jitendra Chaudhary, Advocate, for the respondent no. 6. (2) Petitioner contested election for the O/ o Pradhan against a seat reserved for OBC candidates and she was declared elected. However, caste certificate issued in favour of petitioner has now been cancelled by the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee vide order dated 1.1.2026. Petitioner has challenged the said order passed by District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee. (3) It is contended that petitioner belongs to Jat community by birth and she was issued caste certificate based on her caste which she acquired by birth and her caste status has not undergone any change after her marriage. (4) Per contra, Mr. Jitendra Chaudhary, learned Counsel appearing for respondent no. 6, submits that petitioner belongs to Jat Sikh community, which is not identified as OBC, therefore she was wrongly issued caste certificate. He further submits that petitioner was born and brought up in the State of U.P. and her marriage took place in Uttarakhand only in 2013 and in view of the judgment rendered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in SLP (Civil) 2026:UHC:229 No. 13781 of 2012, Ranjana Kumari v. State of Uttarakhand & Others, the impugned order passed by District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee cannot be faulted. (5) Learned State Counsel submits that the order passed by District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee is appealable before State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee. He thus submits that petitioner should have filed appeal against the impugned order, instead of rushing to this Court. (6) Mr. Dushyant Mainali, learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that petitioner is ready to approach State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, however she may be protected till the time she files the appeal. (7) Having regard to the facts of the case, writ petition is disposed of with liberty to petitioner to approach State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee within a week from today. For a period of one week, status quo as regards the O/ o Gram Pradhan shall be maintained so that petitioner may avail remedy of appeal before State Level Caste Scrutiny Com mittee. Observation, if any, made in this order shall not prejudice State Level Caste Scrutiny Com mittee and petitioner’s appeal shall be heard and decided on merit. ( Man oj Ku m ar Tiw ar i, J.) 6 .1 .2 0 2 6 Pr PRABODH KUMAR Digitally signed by PRABODH KUMAR DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3a082a00a95aff911a9559743af8f21c50602ff6eae4e61af3aeab198d462503, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=0DC111E8D8CA66E16B940EFDF806ACCC1AB588052DF6FCA58C67F3C91957BE53, cn=PRABODH KUMAR Date: 2026.01.06 17:36:44 +05'30' 2026:UHC:229