HC directive on feasibility of law for caste certificates

Updated on: Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Madras HC has directed the Tamil Nadu Govt to consider feasibility of a legislation at the earliest for issue and verificatin of caste certificates to the SCs and STs in view of the loopholes in the present system which led to delays.

Disposing of a petition by one P Vinoth seeking to quash a June 7 last order by Ranipet sub-collector rejecting his application for issue of a ST community certificate, a pision Bench comprising Justices D Murugesan and K K Sasidharan directed the state government to constitute vigilance committees as per the Supreme Court directions to verify claims for community certificates.

The Judges noticed certain common grievances and the alleged determinatin of some officers to reject claims at any cost and went into the larger questions involved in matters relating issuance of community certificates.

The petitioner, the son of a railway employee belonging to Hindu Kattunayakan, a ST community, claimed school records of his grandfather, service records and the community certificate of his father and close relatives proved his community status.

In a counter affidavit to the petition, the Sub-Collector claimed that the community certificate issued to the petitioner's father in December 1974 was not genuine as birth registers of the village from 1940 to 1974 showed there were no entries on birth of members of the Kattunayakkan community.

Observing that the RDO's reasons for rejecting the documents appeared to be correct, the Bench said community certificates of relatives were not scrutinised.

Disagreeing with the RDO's procedure in rejecting the community certificate of the petitioner's father, the Bench said the officer should have sent it to the scrutiny committee.

Setting aside the RDO's order, the Bench remitted it to the official and directed him to send the certificate of the petitioner's father for verification to the scrutiny panel.

The Court directed the committee to issue notice to Vinoth's father and decide the genuineness of the certificate as expeditiously as possible.

HC directive on feasibility of law for caste certificates

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