[File photo of Samaj Kalyan Office in Nashik. Hundreds of students come here every day to apply for caste validity certificate.]
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court in an important judgement delivered on November 23, 2017 said caste validity certificate issued to blood relations is suffice as proof for other close kin.
The Bombay High Court said once a person is issued the caste validity certificate then it ought to be relied upon for verifying caste claim of his children, brothers or others in blood relations.
The bench of Justice Anoop Mohta and Justice Manish Pitale was hearing a writ petition filed by two brothers, Mukesh Bastav and Vilas Bastav, who challenged the decision of the caste scrutiny committee which held the earlier certificate issued to the petitioners as invalid.
“A person inherits caste / tribe from the paternal side and if genealogy of the family is not in dispute and the record shows that caste validity certificates have been issued to close blood relations on the paternal side, which have attained finality.
"There is no reason why claims made on the basis of such validity certificates cannot be granted. It would be a travesty if the claim of each and every blood relation is put to scrutiny and verification by the Scrutiny Committee repeatedly despite caste validity certificates of close blood relations available on record,” the court said.
The judgement is a major relief for the children and blood relations, belonging to scheduled castes (SCs), vimukta jatis and nomadic tribes (VJNTs) and other backward classes (OBCs).
The Bombay HC order comes about two months after the government of Maharashtra decided to do away with the condition of children and person of blood relations having to submit afresh documents proving their castes.
Informing the medica about the decision, Rajkumar Badole, minister for social justice, on October 04, 2017 had said that until now the children and blood relations had to undergo the cumbersome procedure of once again submitting documentary evidences. It will be from now on not required, he said.
Badole further said that the government would soon implement the Digital Locker concept.
“It will further ease and speed up the process wherein children and persons of blood relations can avail of the caste validity certificate of their fathers can obtain their own caste validity certificate,” said the minister.
He said after the applicant submits documentary proof of his father’s caste validity certificate to the District Caste Certificate Validation Committee, the same would be uploaded on the website of BARTI and on the notice board of the concerned offices for inviting claims and objections if any within 15 days.
"The applicant thereafter will get his or her caste validity certificate in a month’s time", he added.
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