Bombay HC Orders Thakur ST Validity for Morey, Citing His Grandfather’s 1933 Record and Close Relatives’ Validity Certificates

The petitioner’s claim to belong to the Thakur Scheduled Tribe was invalidated by the Scrutiny Committee on 5 April 2002, principally because he failed the affinity test.

The record included a 1933 Kotwal Register entry recording the petitioner’s grandfather as “Thakur,” a school transfer certificate recording his father as “Thakur,” and caste-validity decisions concerning close relatives.

The petition was considered after the Supreme Court set aside the dismissal of a group of petitions and directed that the cases be decided individually.

1. Whether the petitioner’s claim to the Thakur Scheduled Tribe could be invalidated principally on the basis of failure to satisfy the affinity test, despite the documentary evidence on record.

2. Whether valid and subsisting caste-validity certificates granted to the petitioner’s close blood relatives supported granting relief to the petitioner.

The Court applied the principles in Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti v. State of Maharashtra & Ors., 2023 SCC OnLine SC 326, and Apoorva d/o Vinay Nichale v. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No. 1 & Ors., 2010 SCC OnLine Bom 1053.

It held that an affinity test cannot, by itself, be the basis for rejecting a caste or tribe claim where relevant documentary evidence has not been discarded; the Court also treated the valid and subsisting certificates of close blood relatives as material supporting the petitioner’s claim.

No statute was identified as a basis of decision in the judgment.

The Committee had not rejected the “Thakur” entries in the pre-constitutional and other records; it considered them insufficient and relied on the petitioner’s failure to establish affinity with the Scheduled Tribe.

Applying the cited precedents, the Court found that invalidation on that basis did not withstand legal scrutiny.

It also relied on the validity certificates granted to the petitioner’s cousin and cousin-nephew, which remained valid and subsisting.

It directed the Committee to issue the petitioner a caste-validity certificate as belonging to the Thakur Scheduled Tribe within 12 weeks of communication of the order.

No order as to costs was made.