Bombay High Court
CHANDRAKALA BABURAO MEKALEversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS
- Disposal
- DISPOSED OFF
Holding
The petition is allowed; the Scrutiny Committee's order is quashed and the petitioner is to be issued a conditional tribe validity certificate.
Summary
The petitioner, Chandrakala Baburao Mekale, filed a writ petition under Article 226 challenging the Scrutiny Committee's order dated 30.07.2021 that rejected her claim of belonging to the 'Koli Mahadev' Scheduled Tribe. She argued that her father Devanand Mekale's genealogy and the conditional validity certificates granted to her siblings and brother in earlier writ petitions established her entitlement to a tribe validity certificate. The State, through the AGP, contended that interpolations, contra entries, and the questionable validity of the certificate granted to Devanand Mekale precluded any conditional validity for the petitioner. The Court examined the earlier decisions granting validity to her relatives and held that the same material justified granting her conditional validity. Consequently, the Court allowed the petition, quashed the Scrutiny Committee's order, and directed the issuance of a tribe validity certificate subject to verification.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to a conditional tribe validity certificate despite alleged interpolations and contra entries in the records.
- Whether reliance on the conditional validity certificates granted to the petitioner’s siblings and brother suffices to establish her own eligibility.
- Whether the Scrutiny Committee's order rejecting the petitioner’s Scheduled Tribe claim is legally valid.
Subjects
- Scheduled Tribe
- Koli Mahadev
- tribe validity certificate
- conditional validity
- Scrutiny Committee
- interpolation
- contra entry
- Article 226
Judgment
2026:BHC-AUG:1179-DB
1 950-wp-9630-2021.odt
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
BENCH AT AURANGABAD
950 WRIT PETITION NO. 9630 OF 2021
Chandrakala Baburao Mekale
VERSUS
The State Of Maharashtra And Others
...
Mr. Madhur A. Golegaonkar a/w. Mr. Sagar D. Modak and Mr. Manish
L. Paithane, Advocate for the Petitioner
Mr. Madhukar A. Aher, AGP for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3.
...
CORAM : SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE AND
ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ.
DATED : JANUARY 08, 2026
P.C.:
1. Heard.
2. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With the consent of
parties Writ Petition is taken up for final hearing at the stage of
admission.
3. By this Writ Petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India, the petitioner is challenging the impugned order dated
30.07.2021 passed by Respondent No.2-Scrutiny Committee by which
the Tribe Claim of the petitioner of belonging to ‘Koli Mahadev’,
Scheduled Tribe has been turned down.
4. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the original
validity holder is one Devanand s/o Baburao Mekale and in the
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Vigilance Cell Report submitted during his tribe verification proceeding
name of the petitioner is appearing in the genealogy. He would further
submit that the daughters of the said Devanand, namely Rushada
Devanand Mekale and Rutuja Devanand Mekale have already been
granted conditional validity by this Court in Writ Petition No.10650 of
2023 vide order dated 28.8.2023 and in Writ Petition No.9046 of 2020
vide order dated 14.01.2021. Learned Counsel for the petitioner would
further urge that even relying on these two validities this Court in the
case of their real brother namely Rudraksha Devanand Mekale Vs. State
of Maharashtra in Writ Petition No. 11752 of 2025 vide order dated
25.09.2025 has granted conditional validity. The learned Counsel for
the petitioner therefore urged that the petitioner deserves to be granted
conditional validity.
5. Per contra the learned AGP would submit that certain inter
polations as well as contra entries found by Respondent No.2-Scrutiny
Committee shows that, petitioner does not even deserve conditional
validity since the validity of Devanand Mekale which is relied upon by
the petitioner has been granted by the Committee headed by V. S. Patil
and therefore the same cannot be relied upon. He would further urge
that this Court in Writ Petition No.653 of 2023 in the case of Prasad
Laxmanrap paratwad Vs. The State of Maharashtra by an order dated
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28.06.2023 has set aside the orders passed by the said Committee
headed by Mr. V. S. Patil holding that all those orders are erroneous
being unreasoned and cryptic.
6. Learned AGP has also relied upon the judgment and order passed
by this Court in the case of Deepak S/o Balaji Rodewad Vs. State of
Maharashtra and Ors. dated 01.11.2023 in Writ Petition No.9274 of
2021 along connected Writ Petition to contend that this Court has
dismissed the writ Petition though the petitioners therein were relying
upon the validity certificates of their blood relatives. This Court in the
said case held that if certain serious contra entries and interpolation are
noticed, then merely because other blood relatives are granted
conditional validity by the Scrutiny Committee that cannot be a ground
for issuance of conditional validity in favour of the petitioners. Learned
AGP therefore reiterate that in the instant case also certain contra
entries and interpolations are noticed by Respondent No.2-Scrutiny
Committee, merely because the petitioner’s other blood relatives have
been granted conditional validity by this Court the same by itself
cannot be a ground for granting conditional validity to the petitioner
and therefore urged that the Writ Petition deserves to be dismissed.
However learned AGP has not disputed the relationship of petitioner
with those validity holders.
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7. After having heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner and the
learned AGP, we find that the contention raised by the learned AGP
regarding interpolation and contra entries in respect of school records
as well as grant of tribe validity certificate in favour of Devanand
Mekale by the Committee headed by Mr. V. S. Patil is concerned, this
Court in the case of Rutuja Devanand Mekale (supra) in paragraph 3
observed thus :-
“3. Mr. Patil, the learned Additional Government Pleader submits that
there are numerous documents showing the entry Koli. Even entry in the
school record of the petitioner’s father Devanand and petitioner’s
paternal aunt records caste as Koli; word Mahadev has been
subsequently added. The difference in the ink is clearly visible. The
learned A.G.P. further submits that the petitioner relied on the school
entry of his grandfather Baburao. When the vigilance visits the school
they could not find the register and some other person’s name appeared
at that serial number. The learned A.G.P. submits that the statement of
one Narsing Laxman has been recorded, he has given the genealogy. The
same is separate from the one given by the petitioner. This shows that
the petitioner is misleading.”
8. Thus whatever is being argued by learned AGP in this case has
already been considered by this Court while granting conditional
validity to Rutuja. We also find that relying on the said order passed by
this Court in the case of Rutuja Devanand Mekale (supra) as well as the
self-same material, this Court has granted validity in favour of Rushada
and Rudraksha. Moreover, relying on all these three validities their
brother namely Rudraksh has also been granted validity by the Court.
In that view of the matter we are of the view that the petitioner also
deserves to be granted conditional validity.
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9. We, therefore, pass the following order :-
:: O R D E R ::
i. The Writ Petition is allowed.
ii. The impugned order dated 30.07.2021 passed by
Respondent No.2-Scrutiny Committee, invalidating the caste
claim of the petitioner belonging to 'Koli Mahadev', Scheduled
Tribe, is quashed and set aside.
iii. Respondent No.2-Scrutiny Committee shall immediately
issue a tribe validity certificate to the petitioner as belonging to
'Koli Mahadev', Scheduled Tribe in the prescribed proforma.
iv. The validity certificate of the petitioner shall be subject
to the outcome of verification to be undertaken by Respondent
No.2-Scrutiny Committee of the validity holders on whom the
petitioner is relying.
v. With the above directions, the petition stands disposed
of.
[ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, J.] [SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE, J.]
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