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2022 DIGILAW 73 (UTT)

Simmi Thakur v. State of Uttarakhand

2022-04-05

SHARAD KUMAR SHARMA

body2022
JUDGMENT : Sharad Kumar Sharma, J. These are the bunch of three Writ Petitions, which engage consideration of a common question of fact and law relating to a denial of issuance of the caste certificate to the petitioners, in relation to the caste to which they respectively belong, and has been claimed to be issued by the respondents under the provisions of the Act No.4 of 1994. A. WPMS No.1722 of 2017, “Simmi Thakur Vs. State of Uttarakhand & others”. The petitioner's case before this Court, is that she belongs to an OBC category (Nai), which has been notified, and recognized as to be an OBC caste by the Scheduled as published by the State Government, thereby reckoning the caste of the petitioner, as to be an OBC. Petitioner submits that though the predecessors of the petitioner’s family hailed from Muzzafarnagar, but since her father being employed in the Indian Army, had permanently shifted to Roorkee, District Haridwar, and settled there permanently, after purchasing the landed property by virtue of the registered sale deed dated 11th March 2002, and has constructed his residential accommodation over the land thus purchased by him. 2. The petitioner has submitted that she has acquired, all her qualifications from the Institutions, which are situated within the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Uttarakhand, and at the time when she had attempted to pursue her B.Tech course, from the Govind Ballabh Pant University, Pantnagar, District Udham Singh Nagar, and since the counseling was supposed to be conducted from 17th July 2017, where she was seeking her claim to be considered, as an OBC candidate, the same was not considered and permitted to participate in the counselling on the pretext that the caste certificate had not been issued in her favour. Though, the petitioner, in her pleading had contended, that she has been issued with the permanent resident certificate by the State on 12th July 2017, in her favour by the Competent Authority of Tehsil Roorkee, District Haridwar, and she further submits that in view of the supporting documents which were filed with the writ petition, she submits that her name stands included in the family register, which has been issued by the Gram Panchayat Dhandera, Vikaskhand Narsan, District Haridwar, coupled with the fact, that she has also been issued with a permanent resident certificate by the Competent Authority on 27th May 2017, while exercising its power under the Government Order No. 2588/1-4/2001, dated 20th November 2001. 3. In that eventuality, when the petitioner has been certified as to be a permanent resident of the State of Uttarakhand, coupled with the fact that she has already been issued with the “Aadhar Card” showing her to be the resident of the Roorkee, District Haridwar, Uttarakhand, she was supposed to be considered and granted with the caste certificate in her favour as per the implications of the Government Order of 2013, which has been issued by the Competent Authority, in which it has been laid down in its clause 4, that once a person, who is permanently residing in the State of Uttarakhand and the same has been certified accordingly, then in view of the implications of sub-clause (vii) of Clause 4 of the Government Order dated 2nd April 2013, the person who has been certified as to be a permanent resident of the State would be entitled to be issued with the caste certificate by the State, subject to the condition that the caste to which she belongs is recognized as the scheduled caste by the State. 4. The petitioner submits that it is not an isolated case for the grant of the issuance of the caste certificate, but rather the caste certificate was issued earlier too by the Tehsildar, while exercising the powers under the Government Order No.1301/2(6)(2)/2006, dated 22nd June 2006, to be read with the Government Order No.1540/Karmik-2, dated 29th March 2003, as well as the Government Order No.1118/XVII 2013-01(20) 2013, dated 2nd April 2013, wherein the Tehsildar had issued the certificate No.994, on 24th July 2017, in favour of the petitioner. 5. 5. Hence, this Court finds that there was no plausible logic with the respondents, as prevailing now justifying their act of not to issue a caste certificate in favour of the petitioner, when she has already been reckoned to be the permanent resident and she was also by an earlier act of the Tehsildar was issued with the caste certificate on 24th July 2017. 6. In that eventuality, the petitioner has come up with the case, that she would be entitled for the issuance of the caste certificate in the light of the ratio laid down by this Court in the judgment rendered by this Court on 11th March 2019, in WPMS No.3711 of 2018, in fact this judgment relied by the petitioner was yet again based upon an earlier judgment rendered by this Court on 7th August 2012, in Writ Petition (M/S) No.124 of 2011 “Ajay Kumar vs. State of Uttarakhand”, as well as wherein it had considered the implications of the Government Order of 2013. 7. Before hearing the parties to the writ petition, this court collected the information from the Registry, that whether as against the judgment dated 11th March 2019, any Special Appeal has been preferred, in fact none of the Counsels have been able to provide the information that any Special Appeal has been preferred against the said judgment of 11th March 2019, hence it would be informed to have attained finality. 8. In that eventuality, when the said judgment has attained finality. Since the present case being identically placed, as that of the principles laid down by the judgment of 11th March 2019, the writ petition deserves to be allowed, under the same terms and conditions of the judgment dated 11.03.2019 (Supra). B. In WPMS No.641 of 2013, “Smt. Sarita Vs. State of Uttarakhand & others” The petitioner, herein, too had put a challenge to the order dated 9th January 2013 which has been passed by Respondent No.3, by virtue of which, respondent No.2, who had rejected the application of the petitioner for the grant of caste certificate. B. In WPMS No.641 of 2013, “Smt. Sarita Vs. State of Uttarakhand & others” The petitioner, herein, too had put a challenge to the order dated 9th January 2013 which has been passed by Respondent No.3, by virtue of which, respondent No.2, who had rejected the application of the petitioner for the grant of caste certificate. Though despite of the fact that the application of the petitioner falls within the purview of being considered for issuance of the caste certificate of Schedule Caste under the relevant Government Orders, since she has contended that she belongs to a caste ‘Chamar’, which is a Schedule Caste, and is permanently residing at Ramnagar, Nai Basti, Village Sunhara, Tehsil Roorkee, District Haridwar, and coupled with fact that it is a caste included in schedule to the Act No.4 of 1994. 2. The petitioner has submitted that she was earlier issued with a caste certificate in the year 1991 by the then Tehsildar, and that caste certificate prevailed to subsist till the petitioner on 13th December 1994, got married to one Shri Vikas, but initially she continued her studies and resided in the parental house, and further the petitioner before this Court had submitted that even after marriage is contended to had continued to reside within the territorial domain of the State of Uttarakhand. She submitted that the husband of the petitioner too belongs to the scheduled caste category, and with the passage of time, his husband too has settled in Roorkee, District Haridwar, along with in-laws and has purchased a landed property on 5th March 2004, in Village Sunhara, Tehsil Roorkee, District Haridwar. 3. The petitioner further submits that she ought to have been issued with the caste certificate, for the reason being that her brother has already been reckoned as to be a scheduled caste by the issuance of the caste certificate by the Competent Authority of Tehsil, Roorkee District Haridwar, and even so, the caste certificate and the permanent resident certificate has been issued in favour of the husband of the petitioner. 4. In that eventuality, and considering the reasons, which has been assigned in the impugned order of 9th January 2013, for rejecting the caste certificate of the petitioner runs contrary to the principles considered by this Court in the judgment as rendered on 11th March 2019, in WPMS No.3711 of 2018. The writ petition deserves to be allowed. 5. 4. In that eventuality, and considering the reasons, which has been assigned in the impugned order of 9th January 2013, for rejecting the caste certificate of the petitioner runs contrary to the principles considered by this Court in the judgment as rendered on 11th March 2019, in WPMS No.3711 of 2018. The writ petition deserves to be allowed. 5. In these eventualities, where the petitioner has been able to satisfactorily substantiate, that she even after marriage, has permanently settled in the State of Uttarakhand, and her husband has purchased the property, and who has been issued with the caste certificate and a permanent resident certificate of the State. The petitioner too, would be entitled for the issuance of the caste certificate as prayed for under the Government Order of 2013. 6. In that view of the matter, this writ petition too would stands allowed. The impugned order dated 9th January 2013, is hereby quashed. The respondent No.3, is hereby directed by way of writ of mandamus to issue a caste certificate to the petitioner, as per the implications of the Government Order of 2013 to be read with the judgment of 11th March 2019, as referred above. C. WPMS No.2397 of 2016, “Smt. Rukmani Vs. State of Uttarakhand & others” The petitioner in this writ petition has come up with the case, that when she had moved an application for the issuance of the caste certificate contending thereof that she is covered by the implications of the Government Order dated 2nd April 2013, and she would be entitled for the issuance of the caste certificate, but her application has been rejected by the respondent No.3, by an order dated 9th August 2016, on the ground, that as per the Government Order dated 20th November 2001, issued by the Government of Uttarakhand, wherein it had been held that the petitioner would not be entitled for the issuance of the OBC caste certificate, certifying her to be belonging to caste “Kurmi”, which has been recognized as to be an OBC caste, as per the schedule issued by the State under Act No.4 of 1994. 2. In fact the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner is permanently residing in Village Bara, Tehsil Kichha, District Udham Singh Nagar ever since 1972, and she is still residing so in the said village after her marriage being solemnized with one Mr. 2. In fact the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner is permanently residing in Village Bara, Tehsil Kichha, District Udham Singh Nagar ever since 1972, and she is still residing so in the said village after her marriage being solemnized with one Mr. Mohit Kumar, who was the permanent resident of the State and father-in-law of the petitioner since has got a landed property, and is even recorded in the revenue records ever since 1994, after the purchase of land made in the year 1994, she would be falling within the zone of consideration for the purposes of issuance of the caste certificate under the Government Order of 2013. However, the same has been rejected by the respondents by the order dated 9th August 2016, without considering the fact that the in-laws of the petitioner are the permanent resident of the State of Uttarakhand, coupled with the fact that she too was at the relevant point of time, when the writ petition was preferred on 27th August 2016, was in an urgent need for the issuance of the caste certificate in order to enable her to participate in the B.Ed examination. 3. The co-ordinate Bench of this Court, has provisionally directed the respondents to issue the caste certificate by an order dated 29th September 2016, and under the strength of the provisional caste certificate issued in favour of the petitioner, the petitioner had already completed her B.Ed examination. 4. The case at hand would also stands squarely covered by the judgment of 11th March 2019, rendered in Writ Petition (M/S) No. 3711 of 2018. In that eventuality, this writ petition is too allowed, the impugned order of rejecting the application for the grant of caste certificate is hereby quashed. The respondent No.3, is hereby directed by way of writ of mandamus to issue a caste certificate, as applied for, by the petitioner, as per the Government Order of 2013, within a period of six weeks from the date of the presentation of the certified copy of this judgment. 5. Subject to aforesaid directions, the writ petitions are allowed. Respondent No.3, is directed to comply the order accordingly within the aforesaid period.