November 24th 2023.
The Bombay High Court recently ruled that the State Caste Scrutiny Committee does not have any power to suo moto verify past records, reopen its earlier decisions and invalidate the caste validity certificates already granted. A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Jitendra Jain commented that such an inherent power would lead to “monumental uncertainty and absurdity” in the functioning of the committee and that only the High Court has the jurisdiction to question the caste certificates granted to anyone.
The judges further quashed the orders of the committee invalidating the caste certificates of the petitioners and restored the caste certificates granted earlier. They stated that the Committee would not have any jurisdiction to suo motu initiate an action to reopen past decisions and invalidate the caste validity certificates already granted.
This ruling by the Bombay High Court is a significant one that will have far-reaching impacts on the functioning of the Caste Scrutiny Committee. It will ensure that the Committee does not have any subjective opinion and is limited to its constitutional jurisdiction without any restrictions.
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