PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday quashed and set aside the orders of the Director of Urban Development and the Caste Scrutiny Committee (CSC) disqualifying Tarak Arolkar as councillor of Mapusa Municipal Council, based on caste certificate submitted by him while contesting municipal elections from OBC reserved ward.
Arolkar had filed a petition challenging the CSC order dated May 5, 2023 declining to verify the caste certificate dated March 18, 2021 issued by the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), Mapusa certifying that he belonged to ‘Bhandari Naik community’.
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Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, Senior Advocate Subodh Kantak submitted that the procedure adopted by the CSC or the Director of Social Welfare was contrary to the law laid down and that the vigilance report had favoured the petitioner, confirming that he belonged to Bhandari Naik community.
While quashing both the orders of the CSC and the Director of Urban Development, the Court directed the State government to consider within three months from the date of the order, steps that are necessary to require persons availing of reservation benefits based upon provisional caste certificates.
