RAMESH ONKAR THAKURversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH ITS SECRETARY AND OTHERS

                                   (1)
                                                     967 WP-8086.2023.odt
     IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                BENCH AT AURANGABAD

          967 WRIT PETITION NO. 8086 OF 2023

Ramesh Onkar Thakur                                        Petitioner

     Versus
1.   State of Maharashtra

2.   Scheduled Tribe Certificate
     Scrutiny Committee, Nandurbar

3.   Civil Surgeon, District Civil
     Hospital, Thane                                       Respondents

                              …
       Mr. S.C. Yeramwar, Advocate for the petitioner.
       Mr. G.A. Kulkarni, A.G.P. for respondents–State.
                              ...

                 CORAM : SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE AND
                         ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ.

                 DATED : 24 MARCH 2026.

Oral order (Per Abasaheb D. Shinde, J.) :

1.   Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With consent of

the parties, writ petition is heard finally at the stage of

admission.

2.   By   this   writ   petition         under   Article   226   of     the

Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks to challenge the

order dated 21.12.2028 passed by respondent No.2-Scrutiny

Committee, by which the tribe claim of the petitioner of

belonging to “Thakur” Scheduled Tribe, has been invalidated
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                                               967 WP-8086.2023.odt
3.    Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that in

support of his tribe claim the petitioner has placed on record

the oldest documents of pre-constitution era pertaining to his

father in the nature of school record dated 01.07.1926 and

birth register extract of his real aunt dated 25.10.1932. The

Scrutiny      Committee,   however,   has   discarded   the   said

documents on the ground that these documents does not

speak about the social status of the petitioner’s forefathers.

He would further submit that respondent No.2 – Scrutiny

Committee has given unnecessary emphasis on the necessity

of satisfying affinity test. He, therefore, submits that in the

light of the fact that the petitioner has placed on record the

oldest documents pertaining to the years 1926 and 1932, the

Scrutiny Committee ought to have validated tribe claim of the

petitioner.



4.    Per contra, learned A.G.P. would submit that the

respondent-Scrutiny Committee has rightly invalidated tribe

claim of the petitioner as the Scrutiny Committee has

considered the aspect with regard to necessity of satisfying the

affinity test.



5.    After having heard learned counsel for the petitioner as
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                                                967 WP-8086.2023.odt
well as learned A.G.P. for the State and after having gone

through the reasoning assigned by the Scrutiny Committee

while invalidating tribe claim of the petitioner, we find that

admittedly there are number of documents pertaining to pre-

constitution era which have been placed on record by the

petitioner and the same have been discarded by the Scrutiny

Committee without any reason.         As far as the aspect with

regard to necessity of passing affinity test is concerned, this

Court has already considered the aspect as to whether in the

light of oldest documents available on record, the claimant is

required to pass the affinity test in the case of Abasaheb

Gulabrao Thakur vs The State of Maharashtra and others

in Writ Petition No.7472 of 2021 alongwith other connected

writ petitions by judgment dated 25.02.2026, holding that if

the claimant has placed on record the oldest documents of

pre-independence era, the Scrutiny Committee cannot insist

for an affinity test, nor it is a Litmus Test in deciding the tribe

claim.



6.   In that view of the matter and in the light of observation

made by this Court in the case of Abasaheb Thakur (supra),

we are of the considered view that the writ petition deserves to

be allowed. We, therefore, pass the following order.
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                                                       967 WP-8086.2023.odt
                                ORDER

    (i)     Writ Petition is allowed.

    (ii) The      impugned      dated      21.12.2018    passed     by
            respondent No.2-Scrutiny Committee is hereby
            quashed and set aside.

    (iii) The     respondent        No.2-Scrutiny     Committee      is
            directed   to   issue     validity   certificate   to   the
            petitioner of belonging to “Thakur” Scheduled
            Tribe, within a period of four weeks from today.

    (iv) Rule is made absolute in above terms with no
            order as to cost.




(ABASAHEB D. SHINDE)                       (SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE)
      JUDGE                                        JUDGE




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