Public Interest Litigation No.71 of 2011

4th February, 2015.

Petitioner Counsel: Shri UDAY P. WARUNJIKAR along with Shri SIDDHESH PILANKAR
Respondent Counsel: Shri S.K. SHINDE

JUDGMENT

A. S. OKA, J. :- Rule. The learned Special Counsel waives service for the Respondent Nos.1 and 2.

2. We have heard the learned counsel appearing for the Petitioners and the learned Special Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 and 2.

3. This Petition raises various important issues regarding the functioning of the Competent Authorities as well as Caste Scrutiny Committees set up by the State Government under the provisions of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomedic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 (for short "the said Act").

4. A 'Competent Authority' is defined under Clause (b) of Section 2 of the said Act. Under Section 4 of the said Act, on an Application made to it, the Competent Authority is empowered to grant caste certificates. The 'Scrutiny Committee' is defined in Clause (k) of Section 2 of the said Act. Various Scrutiny Committees have been set up under Section 6 thereof for verification of caste certificates issued by the Competent Authorities. The Rule making power under the said Act has been exercised by the State Government by framing various Rules.

5. Various Rules framed by the State Government lay down the procedure to be followed by the Caste Scrutiny Committees. Various documents are required to be submitted along with an Application for verification of caste certificate. There is a provision which empowers the Caste Scrutiny Committees to forward Applications to the vigilance cell for conducting school and home inquiry.

6. During the pendency of this Petition, by a Government Resolution dated 9th August 2010, a High Level Committee has been constituted by the State Government headed by the Principal Secretary of the Tribal Development Department for giving suggestions for improving the functioning of the Caste Scrutiny Committees. The recommendations have been submitted by the said Committee along with the letter dated 9th February 2012. In this Petition, the issues raised have been confined to the Caste Scrutiny Committees constituted under the said Act at Thane, Pune, Nashik, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nandurbar and Gadchiroli for dealing with the caste claims of the Scheduled Tribes. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute which is an autonomous body created by the State Government is the Chief Co-ordinator of the Caste Scrutiny Committees in the entire State. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Reaserch and Training Institute has submitted a letter dated 20th September 2014 to the Secretary of the Social Justice Department of the State Government. Data of pending cases before the various Caste Scrutiny Committees has been annexed to the said letter. The data shows that there are 15 Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committees in the State. As of August 2014, the total pendency of cases before the 15 Caste Scrutiny Committees is 1,06,938. Pendency of cases before the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee, Konkan (Mumbai Region), Committee No.1, Konkan Bhavan, is of 13,450 cases. Before the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee, Pune Division, Committee No.2 at Kolhapur, more than 13,000 cases have been pending. Pendency before the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee at Nashik Division, Committee No.2 at Dhule is of more than 20,000 cases. The Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati Division, Committee No.2 at Akola has the pendency of more than 15,000 cases. Out of 1,06,938 pending cases of caste claims, more than 40,000 cases are of the Applicants who have sought validity for the purposes of education. More than 50,000 cases are of the Applicants who are in the employment of the Government or Semi Government Authorities. The chart shows that 9,474 cases were filed before the 15 Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committees in the month of August 2014. Thus, there is a huge pendency of cases before the 15 Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committees in the entire State. The Committee of Experts appointed by the State Government in the year 2012 submitted various recommendations. The recommendations suggested by the said Committee can be summarized as under:

(a) There is a need to strengthen the existing Caste Scrutiny Committees and there is no need to have Fast-Track Committees;

(b) There is a necessity of creating additional posts for every Committee;

(c) Necessary infrastructure such as Vehicles, Computers, etc. be provided to the existing Caste Scrutiny Committees;

(d) To bring transparency in the functioning of the Caste Scrutiny Committees, the functioning of the Caste Scrutiny Committees should be web based and OnLine;

(e) The State Government should ensure that no posts of members of the Caste Scrutiny Committees or no posts of the members of the Staff of Caste Scrutiny Committees should remain vacant;

(f) Before appointing Police Officers on the vigilance cell, a list of suitable Officers should be made and sent for approval of the Tribal Research and Training Institution;

(g) Power should be given to the Commissioner of Tribal Development to repatriate any Police Officer who is a member of the vigilance cell;

(h) The seniormost Research Officer should be the Member Secretary of the Caste Scrutiny Committees;

(i) All members of the Caste Scrutiny Committees shall be provided with the training at the Maharashtra Judicial Academy at Uttan set up by this Court;

(j) Video Recording of the investigation/ inquiry by the vigilance cell should be made and for that purpose, video cameras should be made available to the vigilance cells attached to the Caste Scrutiny Committees.

7. The learned counsel appearing for the Petitioners laid much emphasis on the need for computerizing the record of the Caste Scrutiny Committees. Submission is that there is a need to inter-link all the Caste Scrutiny Committees in the State. Similarly, his suggestion is that there should be a facility of inter-linking the offices of the Competent Authorities with the offices of all the Caste Scrutiny Committees. He submitted that there should be dedicated website which is common to all the Caste Scrutiny Committees and the proceedings before the Committees and especially the orders passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committees should be uploaded on the website. He urged that every Caste Scrutiny Committee in the State is not properly staffed and adequate man power is not made available. His submission is that it is necessary to constitute more Caste Scrutiny Committees in the State. His submission is that all the cases should be ordered to be disposed of in a chronological order. His submission is that in case of bogus caste claims, the criminal law has to be set in motion in terms of Section 13 of the said Act, but the same is rarely done. He pointed out that even action under Section 10 of the said Act is not taken. He urged that as action is not being taken in case of false caste claims, those who make false caste claims are being encouraged and on the other hand, due to huge pendency, those who are having legitimate claims, have to wait in a long queue.

8. The learned Special Counsel for the Government submitted that several steps have been taken by the State Government. The learned Special Counsel pointed out the various steps taken by the State Government. The learned Special Counsel for the Government has placed on record several Government Resolutions. He urged that all the necessary steps are being taken by the State Government for implementation of the said Act as well as the Rules framed under the said Act.

9. We have considered the submissions. The first issue is a creation of sufficient number of Caste Scrutiny Committees. For that purpose, it is necessary to fix a reasonable monthly quota for disposal of cases by the Scrutiny Committees. The quota has to be rational and reasonable, as in a given case, the evidence can be bulky. After finalisation of a monthly quota, depending upon the total pendency and pattern of filing of cases, adequate number of additional Caste Scrutiny Committees will have to be established to take care of huge pendency and new filing.

10. The Caste Scrutiny Committees will have to be provided with the proper infrastructure. The infrastructure will include adequate staff members, adequate premises, vehicles and equipment such as computers, printers, etc.

11. The entire record of every Caste Scrutiny Committee will have to be computerized. The Applications made for verification and scrutiny of the caste claims including the caste certificates and further pleadings filed by the parties will have to be scanned and digitalized. Even the vigilance reports and the accompaniments thereto will have to be scanned and digitalized. All orders passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committees as well as Roznama of the proceedings will have to be uploaded. Therefore, adequate hardware and software will have to be provided to each of the Caste Scrutiny Committees. The orders and Roznama of the proceedings will have to be uploaded on a common website of all the Caste Scrutiny Committees in the State. This Court has already directed inter-linking of all the offices of the Caste Scrutiny Committees in the State. As suggested by the Committee of Experts appointed by the State Government, instead of establishing Fast-Track Scrutiny Committees, additional Caste Scrutiny Committees should be created and adequate infrastructure should be made available to each of the Caste Scrutiny Committees.

12. Proper adjudication is required to be made on all the caste claims with a view to ensure that only in genuine cases, the caste claims are accepted. The very object of establishing the Caste Scrutiny Committees is to ensure that no person who does not belong to a reserved class should be in a position to take benefit available to a particular reserved class and those who are legitimately entitled to take benefit, must get the benefits. The Fast-Track Scrutiny Committee, if established, may pass orders in haste thereby defeating the very object of scrutiny of caste claims.

13. The State Government shall ensure that the members of the Caste Scrutiny Committees are given adequate training. Apart from making a provision for giving basic training to each member, from time to time, the members should be made to undergo refresher courses. The State Government may consider of taking assistance of the Maharashtra Judicial Academy. A training can be arranged even by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute. It is necessary to involve the judicial officers in the training programme so that the members of the Caste Scrutiny Committees can be given training to hold proper inquiry and after appropriately appreciating the evidence as placed on record to pass reasoned orders.

14. Therefore, in addition to the directions which are already issued by this Court in different proceedings from time to time, we issue following interim directions.

(i) The State Government shall appoint a Committee of Experts to determine a minimum monthly quota of cases required to be disposed of by each Caste Scrutiny Committee. The Committees shall be headed preferably by a retired Judge of this Court;

(ii) The Committee of Experts shall also determine a total number of Caste Scrutiny Committees required in the State for dealing with the present pendency of cases and for dealing with the filing of new cases;

(iii) The determination of number of Caste Scrutiny Committees required in the State shall be made after taking into consideration monthly quota of cases required to be disposed of by each Caste Scrutiny Committees;

(iv) The Said Committee shall also determine the staffing pattern of the Scrutiny Committees and the infrastructure to be provided to the said Committees;

(v) The State Government shall accordingly establish additional Caste Scrutiny Committees at appropriate places;

(vi) Adequate infrastructure shall be made available to each Caste Scrutiny Committee in existence and the Caste Scrutiny Committees to be established in future;

(vii) The infrastructure will include for the time being, the adequate number of the members of the staff as suggested by the Committee of Experts in the meeting dated 3rd February 2012;

(viii) The State Government shall ensure that adequate premises are made available to each of the Caste Scrutiny committees;

(ix) All facilities shall be made available to the members of the Caste Scrutiny Committees including proper chambers, internet facilities and wherever necessary, air-conditioning facilities;

(x) The Caste Scrutiny Committees shall be provided with proper Court Rooms for conducting hearings if the same are already not made available;

(xi) The applications made for screening of the caste certificates including the caste certificates and further pleadings filed by the parties shall be scanned and digitalized. Even reports of the vigilance cell including annexures thereto shall be digitalized. Adequate number of high speed scanners shall be made available to each Scrutiny Committee;

(xii) Adequate computers and printers shall be provided to each Caste Scrutiny Committee. Necessary hardware and software shall be also made available to each Caste Scrutiny Committee for the purposes of implementation of the directions issued under this order;

(xiii) A common website shall be created for all the existing Caste Scrutiny Committees;

(xiv) All orders passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committees including the final orders as well as Roznama of the cases shall be uploaded on a common website of all the Caste Scrutiny Committees;

(xv) Facility of making available authenticated copies of the orders uploaded on the common website of all the offices of the Caste Scrutiny Committees shall be provided;

(xvi) Certified copies of all orders passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committees and the certified copies of the vigilance cell reports and accompaniments thereto shall be made available to the parties to the proceedings as a matter of right subject to payment of necessary copying charges;

(xvii) A provision should be made for grant of certified copies of the orders and the vigilance cell reports to the persons who are not parties to the proceedings provided the copies shall be made available to such parties if the concerned Caste Scrutiny Committee is satisfied on the basis of the reasons recorded in the Application that the party applying is entitled to receive the certified copies as aforesaid;

(xviii) There are already directions issued by this Court for inter-linking all the offices of the Caste Scrutiny Committees. Even all the Competent Authorities shall be interlinked with the Scrutiny Committees. The said directions need to be scrupulously implemented;

(xix) The State Government shall issue guidelines/directions to all concerned Authorities to ensure that action in accordance with Sections 10 and 13 of the said Act is promptly initiated;

(xx) The State Government shall implement the aforesaid directions as expeditiously as possible;

(xxi) A report shall be filed by the State Government on implementation of the aforesaid directions on or before 30th April 2015. The report in the form of an affidavit to state the outer limit for compliance with the aforesaid directions;

(xxii) For considering compliance report which shall be filed in the form of an affidavit, the Petition shall be listed on 5th May 2015 under the caption of "Directions".

Ordered accordingly.