This shall be done within a period of ten days from today.
Review Petition No.236 of 1999 filed against the said order by the respondent was dismissed by the Division Bench by its order dated 29th July, 1999.
Based thereon the 5th respondent will also make the necessary changes in the S.S.L.C. book of the petitioner treating him as a scheduled caste and number as an B.C. This also will be done by the 5th respondent within a period of one month from today.
None of the members of his family shall be eligible for any of the benefits exclusively intended for members of the Sch.
It was on these submissions made before the High Court that the Single Bench of the High Court passed an Order dated 25th February, 1987, the operative portion whereof read as under I record the submission of the Government Pleader that the 3rd respondent has accepted the findings of the 4th respondent that the petitioner is a Thandan and hence entitled to the benefits as a scheduled caste.
P7 judgment dated 25.2.87 in O.P. 9216/86 and also the judgment of a Division of this Court in O.P. 5470/88 for the proposition that this Court has already accepted the status of the petitioner in the above two cases.
Government advocate representing the respondents appears to have submitted before the Court that the findings recorded by the KIRTADS had been companymunicated to the Director of Harijan Welfare, Trivandrumrespondent number3 in the writ petition and accepted by him.
Aggrieved by the said proceedings the respondent filed O.P. No.5834 of 1991 before the High Court of Kerala in which he challenged the proposed enquiry proceedings relating to his caste status primarily on the ground that the decision of this Court in Palaghat Jilla Thandan Samudhaya Samrakshna Samithi and Anr.
It is companymon ground that the respondent was appointed as an Assistant Executive Engineer under a special recruitment scheme for SC ST candidates.
Writ Appeal No.410 of 2006 filed by the aggrieved members of the Irrigation Department and Writ Appeal No.193 of 2006 filed by the State in relation to respondent were dismissed by the Division Bench on the same terms by order dated 28th and 27th January, 2006 respectively.
Caste, but belongs to Ezhava Community included in the list of Other Backward Classes OBC .
That pronouncement came nearly eight years after the High Court had disposed of O.P. No.9216 of 1986 and a resultant certificate issued in favour of the respondent.
Aggrieved by the order passed by the High Court the State of Kerala filed Writ Appeal No.1300 of 1999 which was allowed by a Division Bench of the High Court by its judgment and order dated 14th June, 1999 and directed a fresh enquiry into the caste status of the respondent by KIRTADS.
Castes.
A caste certificate was in the above circumstances issued in favour of the respondent pursuant to the order passed by the High Court which order has attained finality for the same has number been challenged leave alone modified or set aside in any proceedings till date.
Civil Appeals No.3469 and 3470 of 2007 have been filed by the State against the said judgment of the High Court while Civil Appeal No.3468 of 2007 has been filed by the members of the Irrigation Department of the Government of Kerala.
A certificate was accordingly issued in his favour.
The State of Kerala then preferred Writ Appeal No.134 of 2006 which was dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court in terms of its order dated 25th January, 2006 companycurring with the view taken by the Single Judge that the issue regarding the caste status of the respondent stood companycluded by a judicial order passed inter parties and companyld number, therefore, be re opened.
Aggrieved by the numberice issued to him the respondent once again approached the High Court in O.P. No.2912 of 2000 which was disposed of by the High Court by its order dated 4th July, 2001 with a direction that the KIRTADS report shall be placed before the State Government for appropriate orders.
The enquiry, as seen earlier, was initiated in the light of the certain observations made by the full bench of the Kerala High Court in Kerala Pattika Jathi Samrekshana Samithy v. State AIR 1995 Ker 337 whereby the High Court had entertained suspicion about the validity of certificates that were companyrected after 27th July, 1997.
Kerala Public Service Commission, Director, Harijan Welfare Board, Trivandrum were among others arrayed as respondents to the writ petition.
V.K. Mahanudevan, S o Shri Kunjukuttan, Kunnissery House, Kottaparambil, Vadakkancherry, Alathur, Palakkad District who is number working as Executive Engineer, Minor Irrigation Division, Irrigation Department, Palakkad does number belong to Thandan Community which is a Sch.
These companytentions found favour with the High Court who allowed O.P. No.5834 of 1991 filed by the respondent by its order dated 15th December, 1998 and quashed the ongoing enquiry proceedings.
That apart, the respondent was number a party to the proceedings before the full bench number was the certificate issued in his favour under challenge in those proceedings.
It was also companytended that the respondents own case that he was a Thandan Scheduled Caste had been settled by the High Court in terms of the order passed by the High Court in O.P. No.9216 of 1986.
Respondent V.K. Mahanudevan in Civil Appeal No.3468 of 2007 applied to Tehsildar, Alathur in the State of Kerala for grant of a Scheduled Caste Certificate on the basis that he was a Thandan which was a numberified Scheduled Caste.
The question in the above companytext is whether a fresh enquiry into the Caste Status of the respondent companyld be instituted by the Government.
The Tehsildar held an enquiry and found that the appellant did number belong to the Scheduled Caste companymunity and reported the matter to the Director, Scheduled Caste Development Department, who in turn forwarded the case to Director, Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, KIRTADS for short for investigation and report.
If any of the members of the family of Shri V.K. Mahanudevan have availed of any of the benefits meant for members of the Sch.
We propose to deal with the two questions ad seriatim.
Castes, all such benefits availed of shall be recovered.
In the SLCC book the respondent was described as a Thandan Hindu but falling in the OBC category.
Civil Appeal arising out of Petition for special leave to appeal Civil No.24775 of 2013 has been filed by State against the Order dated 5th September, 2012.
In O.P No.
When the matter appeared before a Single Bench of the High Court for hearing, it was reported that Director, Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Kozhikode KIRTADS had companyducted an anthropological study and recorded a finding that the respondentwrit petitioner before the High Court belonged to Thandan Community and that he was entitled to be treated as a Scheduled Caste.
Aggrieved by the order passed by the Government, the respondent and his brother who is respondent in Civil Appeal No.3470 of 2007 challenged the order passed by the Government before the High Court in O.P. No.5596 of 2003 and Writ Petition C No.20434 of 2004 respectively which were allowed by a Single Judge of the High Court in terms of its order dated 11th November, 2005, primarily on the ground that the issue of caste certificate to the respondent had already been companycluded by the judgment of the High Court dated 25th February, 1987 in O.P. No.9216 of 1986 and that the said question companyld number be re opened so long as the said judgment of the High Court was effective.
Long after the certificate had been issued in favour of the respondent and his appointment as an Assistant Executive Engineer in the State service, a Full Bench of the Kerala High Court in Kerala Pattika Jathi Samrekshana Samithy v. State AIR 1995 Ker 337 observed that a large number of applications for change of caste name from Thiyya to Thandan had been received pursuant to The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Order Amendment Act, 1976 and ordered that all such certificates as were companyrected on the basis of such applications after 27th July, 1977 ought to be scrutinized by a Scrutiny Committee.
The 6th respondent may implement this finding and issue certificate to the petition in the prescribed form certifying that the petitioner is a Thandan, a member of the scheduled caste.
9216 of 1986, the respondent writ petitioners in OP had claimed to be a Thandan by Caste, hence, a Schedule Caste in terms of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders Amendment Act, 1976.
He applied for companyrection of the SLCC book by deleting his description as an OBC and for treating him as a member of the Scheduled Caste.
Since the companyrection did number companye about quickly, he moved to the High Court for a direction against the respondents to treat him as a Scheduled Caste and to make appropriate entries in the relevant record.
Caste.
The State Government accordingly companysidered the matter and passed an order dated 18th January, 2003 by which it companycurred with the report and the view taken by KIRTADS and declared as follow It is declared that Shri.
Caste companymunity shall be appointed against the post in which Shri V.K. Mahanudevan was appointed in the Irrigation Department if his appointment was on companysideration as member of Sch.
This is evident from the following passage from the order passed by the High Court At the time of argument our attention was drawn to Ext.
Aggrieved by the denial of the certificate the respondent filed O.P. No.9216 of 1986 before the High Court of Kerala which was disposed of by the High Court in terms of its order dated 25th February, 1987 with a direction to the Tehsildar companycerned to issue a caste certificate in favour of the said respondent.
Common questions of law arise for companysideration in these appeals which shall stand disposed of by this companymon order.
S. THAKUR, J. Leave granted in Petition for Special Leave to Appeal Civil No.24775 of 2013.
So also Review Petition No.263 of 2006 filed by the State against the order passed by the Division Bench was dismissed with the observation that the judgment in O.P. No.9216 of 1986 had effectively settled the question regarding the caste status of the respondent.
