Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
In a case concerning the validation of caste certificates for real siblings, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Mangesh Patil and Justice Y.G. Khobragade directed the scheduled tribe's certificate verification committee to resolve the validity proposal of a petitioner, Sakshi Balaji Alewad, within four weeks. The court also ordered a departmental inquiry against four committee officers and mandated the submission of an inquiry report.
Petition over delayed caste validation
Sakshi Alewad submitted a proposal for validation of her Mannerwarlu caste certificate to the Scheduled Tribes Certificate Verification Committee on July 15, 2024. Her brother, Manoj, had applied in 2023 and received a vigilance report on May 16, 2024. Since both siblings belonged to the same family, Sakshi argued that she should not require a separate independent report. However, her request was denied, leading to an additional inquiry by the vigilance department. Due to the delay in resolving her proposal, Sakshi, represented by advocate Chandrakant Thorat, approached the High Court. The bench questioned why the committee had not made a joint decision for both siblings. Following this, the committee submitted an affidavit, but discrepancies emerged between the affidavit and official records, prompting the court to order an internal inquiry. The bench has directed the chief secretary of the state and the principal secretary of the Tribal Development Department to conduct a departmental inquiry against the vice president of the scheduled tribe's certificate verification committee D.B. Tidke, member secretary and deputy director V.M. Katke, senior research officer Gajendra Kendre and Member H.M. Walale. The inquiry report is to be submitted to the bench.