Caste claim: Bombay high court rejects plea of Thakur siblings

The Bombay high court, last week, rejected petitions filed by two siblings – Monika and Chetan Thakur – challenging invalidation of their caste claim of belonging to the Thakur tribe; although, caste claims of their three sisters and a brother were validated by the caste scrutiny committee concerned.

A division bench of justice SV Gangapurwala and justice AM Dhavale rejected petitions filed by Monika and Chetan saying that the burden to prove that they belong to the Thakur tribe was on them and they cannot simply rely on the validity certificates issued to their siblings for discharging it.

Monika and Chetan had approached the HC after their caste claims were rejected by the caste scrutiny committee at Nandurbar in 2009 and 2010, respectively. They were rejected for failing to clear affinity test and to show that their forefathers hailed from the 25 tehsils identified by the state as Thakur tribe areas.

The bench said that when a caste certificate is issued in the name of any person after due enquiry, their paternal relatives are also entitled to a similar certificate, provided that the validity certificate issued in favour of the first person is properly issued.

The bench refused to accept validity certificates issued in favour of the petitioner’s siblings after noting that the orders clearly mentioned that their surnames, origin, trait, characteristic, and traditions were not associated with the Thakur scheduled tribe. The ethnic linkage towards the tribe was not established, but the scrutiny committee had no alternative, but to hold the issue validity certificates, as their cases had been remanded back by the HC. “These validity certificates will be of no assistance as they were conducted without following due procedure,” said HC.