Court sets precedent in favour of caste certificate claimants

Mumbai: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has curbed the lackadaisical approach of district level Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committees to deny an applicant the status of an ordinary resident of the state through a brief inquiry. The court has mandated that not only must the inquiry to determine the fact of residential status of the applicant be conducted by the Vigilance Cell, if needed, but also allow the applicant to produce evidence regarding her or his residential status. The bench was hearing a petition filed by a woman aggrieved over her verification of her caste certificate. It held that the question of normal residence of a person for the purpose of verification of caste certificate cannot be settled without an inquiry by Vigilance Cell and after giving concerned person opportunity to give evidence. The ruling is likely to set a precedent for scores of such caste certificate scrutiny cases where migrant citizens from one state settled in another find the home state caste certificate being rendered invalid adversely impacting their educational and professional service conditions and other benefit due to them as a result of not being recognized in the state they migrated to.