On July 7, 2022, the verification committee passed an order that Chaitanya "Mannervarlu" does not belong to the Scheduled Tribe. By this time Chaitanya had not only completed her MBBS degree but also got admission in the Post Graduate (PG) course in the general category, where she is currently in the second year.
New Delhi- The Supreme Court has given a big relief to the appellant MBBS pass Chaitanya by giving an important verdict in a famous fake caste certificate case of Maharashtra. But the apex court has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on her father. With a fake caste certificate, Chaitanya not only got admission in MBBS but also completed the degree and internship and now has got admission from the general category for the post graduate degree. The court, while maintaining a balance between equity and law, has granted relief to the student and imposed penalty on the father, saying that “this act has deprived an eligible tribal candidate of an opportunity.” The court ordered Chaitanya’s father to deposit Rs 5 lakh in the National Defence Fund within two months.
The case pertains to the “Mannervarlu” category of Scheduled Tribes (ST), under which Chaitanya had claimed she belonged to this tribe. Chaitanya was born on 7 August 1998, and when she was a minor, a caste certificate was issued in her favour on 1 July 2009, declaring her as a member of the “Mannervarlu” Scheduled Tribe under Section 27 of the Presidential Order 1976.
Chaitanya, who wanted to take admission in MBBS course, approached the Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Verification Committee, Aurangabad for verification of her certificate through her father Sanjay Vithalrao Palekar on 30 July 2015. Unfortunately, the committee delayed the verification of this claim, which led to Chaitanya getting admission to the MBBS course on 24 July 2016 on the basis of his caste certificate. He successfully completed MBBS in 2021 and started internship after completing the final year on 5 May 2021.
The records show that Chaitanya excelled in class 12 and his academic performance was also excellent during MBBS. However, on 7 July 2022, the verification committee passed an order that Chaitanya does not belong to the “Mannervarlu” Scheduled Tribe. By this time Chaitanya had not only completed his MBBS degree but also enrolled in the Post Graduate (PG) course in the general category, where he is currently in the second year. Chaitanya filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court against this decision of the committee, but it was dismissed. The core issue of the case was the fraud committed by Chaitanya’s father and uncle, who obtained new certificates in 2007 by concealing the rejection of their tribal claims in 1989.
Bombay High Court gave this decision
The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court, while passing judgement on writ petition no. 8531/2022 on July 24, 2023, upheld the order of the Verification Committee dated July 7, 2022. The High Court found that the tribal claims of Chaitanya’s father Sanjay Palekar and uncle Rajiv Palekar were rejected in 1989, and their appeal was dismissed in 1991. Despite this, they obtained new validity certificates in 2007 by concealing this fact.
The High Court termed it a constitutional fraud and said that Chaitanya’s father had filed a false affidavit before the committee, claiming that no one in his family’s claim was rejected. The court cited the Supreme Court case Raju Ramsing Vasave v Mahesh Deorao Bhiwapurkar (2008) 9 SCC 54, which held that certificates obtained by fraud are invalid and not binding on other family members. The High Court also observed that the certificates of other relatives submitted by Chaitanya were also based on fraud, as earlier rejections were concealed.
Rejecting the debate on the review power of the committee, the court clarified that this is a clear case of fraud and not an issue of review. The High Court rejected Chaitanya’s reference to other cases where directions were given to issue validity certificates pending scrutiny of relatives’ certificates. The court said that this case is an example of clear fraud on the Constitution and Chaitanya cannot benefit from the fraud of his father and relatives. Dismissing the petition, the High Court said that the affidavits filed by Chaitanya and his father were false and the committee was justified in rejecting the claim.
Supreme Court order
The Supreme Court bench of Justice J.B. A bench of Justices Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan partly allowed Chaitanya’s appeal in Civil Appeal No. 11196/2025. The court upheld the High Court’s findings, saying there was no legal error, but granted relief in special circumstances, taking into account Chaitanya’s educational qualifications and career prospects.
The court noted that Chaitanya has completed MBBS and is pursuing a PG course in the general category. If the appeal was dismissed, her entire career would be at stake. The court held Chaitanya’s father primarily responsible for the situation, who put his daughter in trouble by concealing crucial facts. Referring to its interim order (28 November 2023), the court took on record the affidavit of the father, in which he gave up the claim of “Mannervarlu” Scheduled Tribe for himself and his family.
The court regularised Chaitanya’s MBBS admission and directed the university to issue his degree certificate, which would be final. Chaitanya was, however, barred from claiming Scheduled Tribe anytime in the future. Acknowledging that due to this fraud a deserving Scheduled Tribe candidate lost the opportunity of pursuing MBBS course, the court ordered Chaitanya’s father to deposit Rs 5 lakh in the National Defence Fund within two months.
The matter was again listed after two months for a compliance report. The court also observed that if the verification committee had conducted a timely inquiry, this situation might not have arisen. The Supreme Court order overrides the High Court’s decision, regularising only Chaitanya’s MBBS admission, while upholding the High Court’s decision on all other aspects.
Geetha Sunil Pillai
Courtesy : Hindi News