Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
Shantanu Kemkar and P.D. Naik

JUDGMENT

P.D. Naik, J.

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith.

2. Mr. V.M. Mali, Asstt. Govt. Pleader waives service for respondent Nos. 1 to 4. Mr. Satyavrat Joshi waives service for respondent Nos. 5 & 6. By consent of counsel for the respective parties, the matter is taken up for final disposal forthwith.

3. The petitioner has invoked the writ jurisdiction of this court under Article 226 of Constitution of India and sought to challenge the order dated 20 January, 2016 passed by the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee No. 3, Pune, thereby invalidating the Caste Certificate of the petitioner dated 9 January, 2015 issued by respondent No. 4 (Deputy Collector (Land acquisition No. 4), Sub Divisional Officer, Pune)).

4. The factual matrix of the issues which are required to be adjudicated in the present petition is as follows;

"i) The petitioner claims to be a person belonging to Kunbi caste which is recognized as Other Backward Class ("OBC" for short). On the basis of caste claim made by the petitioner, respondent No. 4 had issued Caste Certificate dated 9 January, 2015 certifying that the petitioner belongs to Kunbi Caste which is recognized as OBC under Government Resolution dated 13 October, 1967. Respondent No. 4 while issuing the said certificate had placed reliance upon several documents put forth by the petitioner. While issuing the said certificate, respondent No. 4 had assigned reasons by placing reliance upon the said documents.

ii) The petitioner had contested election at Village Panchayat of Village Fursungi from the Ward reserved for OBC category and he was declared elected on 6 August, 2015 as Village Panchayat Member of Village Fursungi, Taluka Haveli, Dist. Pune. In pursuant to the said election, the caste certificate of the petitioner was sent to the Divisional Caste Scrutiny Committee - respondent No. 2 for verification of his caste claim.

iii) The petitioner submitted before the aforesaid Authority the documents viz. school leaving certificate, the school leaving certificate of his father, extract of Birth and Death Register maintained in Village Fursungi in respect of Gulab Shivram Harpale who is cousin grandfather of the petitioner showing his caste as Kunbi and date of his death as 9 May 1914, extract of Birth and Death register maintained by Fursungi Gram Panchayat in respect of Sahu daughter of Shivram Harpale who was sister of petitioner cousin grandfather. He also placed reliance upon 7/12 extract in respect of ancestral property of the petitioner bearing survey No. 29, Village Fursungi which was partitioned amongst the ancestors'.

iv) Respondent No. 6 submitted a complaint before respondent No. 2 alleging that the petitioner does not belong to Kunbi (OBC caste). The complainant sought to rely upon certain documents to falsify the claim of the petitioner and to disapprove the documents of relatives relied upon by the petitioner.

v) The petitioner further submitted documents to counter the objections of respondent No. 6. The respondent No. 2 forwarded the matter to Vigilance Cell. Pursuant to that the Vigilance Cell conducted thorough enquiry and after going through the documents and record the Vigilance Cell submitted its report to the Committee on 20 October, 2015 confirming the caste claim of the petitioner.

vi) The respondent No. 2, issued a show cause notice dated 1 December, 2015 to the petitioner stating that the school records of the petitioner and his father show that the caste of the petitioner as "Hindu Maratha". The said show cause notice was served upon the petitioner on 6 December, 2015. He was called for an enquiry by respondent No. 2 on 15 December, 2015.

vii) The petitioner submitted his written reply to the aforesaid show cause notic........