Supreme Court Rules Lack of Merit in Caste Certificate Denies Claim for Relief or Benefits
Title: M/S DARVELL INVESTMENT AND LEASING (INDIA) PVT. LTD. AND OTHERS V THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND OTHERS
Citation: CIVIL APPEAL NO.6106 OF 2017
Dated on: 8.12.2023
Corum: HON’BLE JUSTICE VIKRAM NATH & JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL
The present case is a decision of the Supreme Court of India in a civil appeal case regarding the cancellation of a caste certificate issued to respondent No. 15, who claimed to belong to the Scheduled Tribe community. The appellants, who purchased the land from the respondent’s father’s original vendees, questioned the State Level Scrutiny Committee’s authority to hear the respondent’s appeal against the cancellation of his caste certificate. Hon’ble Justice Rajesh Bidal After reviewing the facts and circumstances of the case, granted the appeal and reversed the High Court’s decision, ruling that the respondent did not deserve any relief and that his claim of belonging to a Scheduled Tribe community was not genuine.
Brief facts of the case
In the instant case the respondent No. 15’s father, the late Ramanand Baraik, sold 2.11 acres of land to Sanjay Gupta and two others in 1983 without requesting permission from the relevant authority because he belonged to the general category and never claimed to be a Scheduled Tribe.
In 1993, respondent No. 15 got a caste certificate indicating that he belonged to the ‘Chik Baraik’ Scheduled Tribe. However, in 2000 and 2001, he executed many sale deeds, stating that he was of general category and did not need permission to sell his land.
In 2004, appellants Nos. 1 and 2 purchased the disputed land from Sanjay Gupta and others. They filed an application to revoke the caste certificate issued to respondent No. 15.
The Sub Divisional Officer (SDO), the certificate issuing authority, cancelled respondent No. 15’s caste certificate in 2012 after discovering that he had failed to produce any supporting documents or the original caste certificate, despite having sworn affidavits stating that he belonged to the general category. The order was confirmed by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), the appellate authority, in 20135.
The respondent No. 15 filed an appeal with the State Level Scrutiny Committee, which overturned the cancellation order and returned the case to the SDO for further review in 2013. The appellants challenged the order of the Committee before the High Court, which maintained the Committee’s jurisdiction to hear the appeal of respondent No. 15.
Court analysis and judgement
The Supreme Court observed that the issue of the Committee’s jurisdiction did not need to be addressed in detail, as an amendment to Section 8A of the West Bengal Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Identification) Act, 1994, carried out in 2017, gave the Committee the authority to deal with cases of caste certificate cancellation6. However, the Court stated that the revision was procedural in character, and the case was still pending before the Committee.
However, given the conduct of respondent No. 15, the Supreme Court did not believe it was appropriate to return the matter to the Committee. The Court determined that respondent No. 15’s claim of belonging to a Scheduled Tribe community lacked merit because his father never claimed such status and sold his land as a general category person, and he also sold his land and swore affidavits as a general category person. The Court further noted that the respondent No. 15 sought to challenge only one of the multiple sale deeds issued by his father, following a considerable wait, and that he could not present his original caste certificate or any documentation to explain its issuance.
As a result, Justice Rajesh Bidal of the Supreme court granted the appeal and reversed the High Court’s decision, ruling that respondent No. 15 did not deserve any remedy and that his claim to belong to a Scheduled Tribe group was not genuine. The Court further noted that the protective legislation requiring authorization for the sale of land belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes was intended to protect their property rather than harass the purchasers.
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Written by- Namitha Ramesh