The State Caste Scrutiny Committee does not have any power to suo moto to verify past records, reopen its earlier decisions and invalidate the caste validity certificates already granted, the Bombay High Court has ruled.

The court noted that the caste scrutiny committee is not conferred with any jurisdiction under the law to review its own decisions. “Considering the nature of functions of the Caste Scrutiny Committee, the legislature itself has avoided to confer any review powers,” a division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Jitendra Jain said on November 1. The detailed 54-page judgement was made available on Friday.

Such an inherent power would lead to a “monumental uncertainty and absurdity” in the functioning of the committee. “If an inherent power of review is to be read in the provisions of the 2000 Act, it would lead to a monumental uncertainty and absurdity in the functioning of the Caste Scrutiny Committee, as it can be at the ipse dixit (Latin term for ‘he himself said it’) of the Caste Scrutiny Committee to reopen concluded cases. This would lead to patent arbitrariness,” the HC said.

The HC passed the judgement while hearing 10 petitions filed by government employees challenging the suo motu orders passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee last year invalidating the caste certificates issued to them between 1992 and 2005. The petitioners belong to the Scheduled Tribes – Koli Mahadeo, Thakur and Thakar groups. Years ago, they were issued tribe / caste certificates by the concerned designated officers depicting that they belong to the said Scheduled Tribes.

The bench said that only the high court has jurisdiction to question the caste certificate granted to anyone.

“We have categorically held that the Caste Scrutiny Committee has no jurisdiction, much less inherent jurisdiction to review its own decisions,” it said “… any decision by the Caste Scrutiny Committee is subject to the jurisdiction of this Court… including issue on issues of any allegation of fraud.”

“There cannot be a hand or licence to the Caste Scrutiny Committee to reopen concluded cases of validity being conferred by it by its earlier orders to be revisited or re-examined on a complaint or otherwise and review its orders,” the court added.

The judges further said that if the Committee was allowed to have such inherent powers to review its own orders, it would lead to “devastating consequences” as then the committee could form a subjective opinion and it would be without any restriction as to limitation (time).

“Thus, in our opinion, the Caste Scrutiny Committee, being a statutory body exercising quasi adjudicatory functions, would not have any jurisdiction to suo motu verify past records and initiate an action to reopen past decisions and invalidate the caste validity certificates already granted,” the court underlined.

The court quashed the orders of the committee invalidating the caste certificates of the petitioners. Consequently, it restored the caste certificates granted earlier by the committee to the petitioners.