Writ Petition No. 2028 of 2014. Case: Aishwarya Dhananjay Patil Vs State of Maharashtra and Ors.. High Court of Bombay (India)
| Case Number | Writ Petition No. 2028 of 2014 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: A.V. Anturkar, Sr. Counsel and Rushikesh C. Borge i/by Sugandh B. Deshmukh, Advocate and For Respondents: V.P. Malvankar, 'A' Panel Government Pleader |
| Judges | V.M. Kanade and P.R. Bora, JJ. |
| Issue | Income Tax Act, 1961 - Section 143(1) |
| Judgement Date | May 05, 2017 |
| Court | High Court of Bombay (India) |
Judgment:
P.R. Bora, J.
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The petitioner has filed the present petition taking exception to the order dated 10th February, 2014 passed by District Collector, Pune (Respondent No. 2), whereby he has cancelled the Non-creamy Layer Certificate issued to the petitioner on 8th June, 2012.
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The petitioner has secured admission in BJ Medical College, Pune (Respondent No. 3) for the MBBS Course on the seat reserved for the candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC). The petitioner belongs to 'Kunbi' caste, which falls in Other Backward Class (OBC). The Caste Scrutiny Committee has validated the caste certificate of the petitioner and has accordingly issued Caste Validity Certificate in favour of the petitioner.
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Benefits of Reservation in the appointments in the Government services and in admissions for the various educational courses are available and applicable only to such O.B.C. Candidates who fall in the category of Non-creamy Layer. O.B.C. Candidates are, therefore, required to furnish "Non-creamy Layer Certificate' Procedure for issuance of such 'Non-creamy Layer' certificate has been prescribed in Government Circulars time to time issued and consolidated in the Circular dated 25th March, 2013. Before getting the admission in BJ Medical College, Pune on the seat reserved for OBC, the petitioner had furnished the Non-creamy Layer certificate issued in her favour on 8th June, 2012 by District Collector, Pune.
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One Gauri Hemantkumar Gharat, who was also aspiring for admission to MBBS Course at any Government Medical College from the OBC quota, filed writ petition No. 7456/2012 before this court, alleging that false Non-creamy Layer certificates have been issued by the concerned authorities to undeserving candidates, who, in fact, do not fall within the category of Non-creamy Layer. The said petitioner, therefore, sought an enquiry into the Non-creamy Layer certificates issued in favour of Respondent Nos. 7 to 23 in the said petition. The present petitioner is one of the said Respondents and the objection is raised as about the Non-creamy Layer certificate issued in her favour. As is revealing from the record, some orders were passed by this Court in the aforesaid writ petition No. 7456/2012, directing enquiry into the Non-creamy Layer certificates issued in favour of Respondent Nos. 7 to 23 in the said writ petition. Accordingly, such enquiry was conducted by the committee consisting of Regional Deputy Commissioner, Social Welfare, Pune Region, Pune and Additional Collector, Pune.
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In the aforesaid enquiry, the certificate issued in favour of petitioner was found to be false. The District Collector, Pune, therefore, issued a show cause notice to father of the petitioner, calling upon him to show cause as to why the Non-creamy Layer Certificate issued in favour of the petitioner, shall not be cancelled. Father of the petitioner submitted his explanation/reply to the said show cause notice. After conducting due enquiry vide order dated 10th June, 2014, the District Collector, Pune cancelled the Non-creamy Layer certificate issued in favour of the petitioner on 8th June, 2012. Aggrieved by, the petitioner has filed the present petition.
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Shri A.V. Anturkar, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner, assailed the impugned order on several grounds. The learned Sr. Counsel submitted that the Collector, Pune has utterly failed in appreciating the import of the Government Circular dated 25th March, 2013. The learned Counsel further submitted that as provided in the said Government Circular, while computing the income of the professionals, the category in which father of the petitioner falls, the income received from agriculture, the income received from the property, i.e. other source, cannot be clubbed together and has to be counted separately.
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The learned Counsel further submitted that father of the petitioner had furnished the entire record pertaining to his income for the proceeding three years, i.e. from 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-12 while seeking the Non-creamy Layer certificate. The learned Counsel further submitted that while issuing the Non-creamy Layer certificate in favour of the petitioner on 8th June, 2012, the authority, which issued the said certificate, has appropriately considered the record as about the income placed before it and only thereafter the said certificate was issued. The learned Counsel further submitted that however in the subsequent enquiry, the Committee, which conducted the enquiry, exceeded its limits and probing into the other aspects pertaining to the income of the father of the petitioner, gave an opinion that the petitioner was not eligible for the Non-creamy Layer certificate.
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The learned Sr. Counsel further submitted that the District Collector, Pune, placing implicit reliance on the report so submitted by the said Committee, without applying his mind and ignoring the Government Circular and the guidelines issued in this regard time to time, wrongly and erroneously cancelled the Non-creamy Layer certificate issued in favour of the petitioner. The learned Counsel further submitted that the Committee, at the first instance, and thereafter the District Collector, Pune, wrongly and incorrectly clubbed the professional income of the father of the petitioner with his income received from other sources and the same has resulted in illegal cancellation of the Non-creamy Layer certificate issued in favour of the petitioner.
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The learned Sr. Counsel invited our attention to the detailed explanation submitted by father of the petitioner vide his communication dated 7th February, 2014 addressed to Collector, Pune and also to the other documents filed on record, which contain the Income Tax Returns time to time filed by father of the petitioner and the Profit & Loss Account for the relevant period pertaining to Chetana Hospital, which is being run by father of the petitioner. Referring to all these documents, the learned Sr. Counsel submitted that the Non-creamy Layer Certificate has been wrongly cancelled by Respondent No. 3 and, therefore...
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