Nagpur: Production of pre-Constitution documents cannot be treated as a mandatory requirement for obtaining a caste certificate, Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court recently held. HC also quashed an order by Washim sub-divisional officer that rejected a 22-year-old woman’s application for a certificate identifying her as belonging to Koli Mahadev Scheduled Tribe.A division bench of Justices Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Raj Wakode quashed SDO’s order rejecting the application of Laxmi Khandare, a resident of Lakhani in Bhandara district. The bench directed SDO to issue the certificate within six weeks of receipt of the court order after examining the documents prescribed under Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-Notified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 and the Rules of 2003.Khandare had obtained a caste certificate on April 1, 2021, and later applied for engagement as a gramin dak sevak branch postmaster in Department of Posts under the Scheduled Tribe category. After the postal department sought a central govt caste certificate, she applied for one on Oct 15, 2023. Her application was rejected by SDO on Feb 8, 2024, on the ground that she had not produced pre-Constitution documents.Khandare’s counsel RS Kabra argued that such documents are relevant during caste claim validation proceedings and not at the stage of issuance of a caste certificate. Opposing the plea, assistant govt pleader HN Jaipurkar contended that the applicable rules required documentary proof establishing Scheduled Tribe status.Rejecting the state’s contention, the bench relied on earlier judgements, including Rushikesh Sanjay Zaskar vs State of Maharashtra, Bhushan Purushottam Juwar vs State of Maharashtra, and Darshana Vinayak Jumale vs Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee.“There is no such settled law mandating the petitioner/claimant to have pre-constitutional documents to support their caste claim,” the judges said.Allowing the petition, the bench also referred to its Dec 2025 ruling in Jay Vilas Ghate vs State of Maharashtra, which held that the 2000 Act does not make production of pre-constitutional records compulsory, particularly when close blood relatives have already been issued caste certificates. In Khandare’s case, her father and grandfather had been granted Koli Mahadev Scheduled Tribe certificates.The court further noted that Khandare herself had already been issued a caste certificate recognising her as a member of Koli Mahadev Scheduled Tribe on Sept 23, 2021. It held that SDO was required to assess whether the documents submitted were sufficient under the Act and Rules, rather than reject the application solely for want of pre-constitutional records.Accordingly, the court quashed the Feb 8, 2024, order and directed SDO to process and issue the certificate in accordance with law.
