1997 INSC 0348
                                          Ganesh S/O Gulabrao Suroshe

                                                           Vs

                                         State of Maharashtra and Others

                                          Civil Appeal No. 2537 of 1997

                                       (K. Ramaswamy, G. T. Nanavati JJ)

                                                      17.03.1997

                                                        ORDER

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal by special leave arises from the judgment of the High Court of Bombay, Nagpur
Bench, made on 22-4-1996 in Writ Petition No. 703 of 1994.

3. The appellant claimed to be a member of the Scheduled Tribes. Admittedly, the appellant is
"Thakur" by caste, a forward caste. His grandfather was shown as a "Thakur" but not as "Ka" or
"Ma" Thakur. In Maharashtra, "Ma Thakur" or "Ka Thakur" are described as Scheduled Tribes. The
appellant, therefore, claimed the status of a Scheduled Tribe and made an application to the
authorities for issuance of the Caste Certificate. After due enquiry, the Scrutiny Committee
constituted negatived the claim of the appellant for the status of a Scheduled Tribe. The appellant
filed a writ petition in the High Court which observed that the Committee has minutely enquired
into the findings and stated as under :

                  "This Court cannot examine the material on record as an appellate authority. If the
                  conclusion reached by the Committee is possible on the basis of the material on
                  record, then this Court cannot interfere with the order of the Scrutiny Committee in
                  exercise of its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of
                  India. Accordingly it was dismissed."

4. Shri R.S. Lambat, learned counsel for the appellant, contends that the Scrutiny Committee has
recorded the finding in para 8 as under :

                  "With this end in view the Committee has applied the affinity test and concluded that
                  the affinity test was negatived. I feel that the respondent has been giving unduly high
                  stress on the affinity aspect. It may not be necessary that all Thakur Scheduled Tribes
                  have an affinity with Ka Thakur or Ma Thakur. The application of this test is
                  sometimes viewed so mechanically and arithmetically that the extraneous factors
                  such as educational background, social environment, vocational upbringing etc.
                  which play a major role in the shaping of one's personality are lost sight of."

5. It is contended that the conclusion reached on the basis of the findings of the Committee is not
warranted. Therefore, the High Court should have gone into the question and verified the basis on
which the Scrutiny Committee has scrutinised the claims of the appellant as a "Ma Thakur" or "Ka
Thakur". It is true, as pointed out by the Scrutiny Committee, that each case is required to be
examined in the facts and circumstances of the case. The notification of the President under Article
342 of the Constitution, subject to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 1976, is
conclusive and final. There are catenae of decisions of this Court holding that the Court cannot
examine, to find out the caste of the party, the basis of the certificate issued. The limited area the
Court can survey is whether the caste mentioned in the Presidential notification would be applicable
to the claimant or not. Under these circumstances, we do not think that the High Court has
committed any error of law warranting interference.

6. The appeal is accordingly dismissed. No costs.