Caste validity granted to a close blood relative requires issuance of validity to the claimant.

The petitioner claimed membership of the Thakur Scheduled Tribe under Entry 44 of Part IX of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

He had been issued a caste certificate by the Executive Magistrate, Akola, on 12 January 1995.

The Amravati Caste Scrutiny Committee rejected his claim and invalidated his caste certificate by order dated 30 September 2004.

The petitioner’s earlier challenge was dismissed by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court; however, the Supreme Court subsequently set aside that decision and remanded the matter for reconsideration.

During the remand proceedings, the petitioner relied on the caste validity certificate granted to his close blood relative and real cousin-brother, Sunil Awadhoot Pawar.

Sunil’s validity certificate had been granted pursuant to the High Court’s decision in Writ Petition No. 3729 of 2020, which had relied on the validity certificates of other members of the same family.

The family tree connecting the petitioner and Sunil had been verified by the Vigilance Cell, and Sunil’s validity certificate had attained finality.

Whether the petitioner was entitled to a caste validity certificate as belonging to the Thakur Scheduled Tribe in view of the final validity certificate granted to his close blood relative and real cousin-brother, Sunil Awadhoot Pawar.

Whether the Scrutiny Committee’s order dated 30 September 2004 invalidating the petitioner’s caste claim was liable to be quashed in light of the binding family precedent and verified relationship.

The Court applied the principle of consistency in caste-validity adjudication recognised in Apoorva d/o Vinay Nichale v. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No. 1 & Ors. , 2010 (6) Mh.L.J. 401; 2010 SCC OnLine Bom 1053, under which a caste validity certificate granted to a close blood relative, particularly where the relationship is established and the earlier decision has attained finality, is a material and ordinarily binding consideration for determining the same caste claim of another family member.

The Court also proceeded on the basis that the petitioner’s claim concerned the Thakur Scheduled Tribe included in Entry 44 of Part IX of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

The Court found that Sunil Awadhoot Pawar was the petitioner’s close blood relative and real cousin-brother, that the family relationship had been verified by the Vigilance Cell, and that Sunil’s validity certificate had been granted pursuant to a judgment which had attained finality.

Applying the principle in Apoorva d/o Vinay Nichale , the Court held that the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of the established caste validity within the family.

The State’s objection that the Scrutiny Committee had rejected the claim for valid reasons was insufficient to displace the effect of the final and undisputed validity certificate of the close relative.

The Rule was made absolute, with no order as to costs.