‘Past sins cast long shadows’: Why Supreme Court cleared 70-year-old engineer in 33-year-old fake caste certificate case
The Supreme Court said past sins cast long shadows while hearing the plea of a retired engineer who was accused of a misdemeanour committed in 1993, when he attempted to claim the status of a scheduled tribe.
The Supreme Court said past sins cast long shadows while hearing the plea of a retired engineer who was accused of a misdemeanour committed in 1993, when he attempted to claim the status of a scheduled tribe. Supreme Court engineer ruling: A person who tries to appropriate the benefits due to a scheduled tribe by dubious means, not only commits an illegal act but also denies a rightful candidate such benefits and normally does not deserve any grace, the Supreme Court held recently, as it quashed a case against a septuagenarian retired engineer in a fake caste certificate case.
The Supreme Court judgment further noted, “Past sins cast long shadows; and the appellant herein is trying to dodge the shadow of misdemeanour committed in 1993, when he attempted to claim the status of a Scheduled Tribe.”
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran, however, quashed a criminal case and related proceedings against a septuagenarian retired engineer, namely, Madan Gopal, who sought the relief in the case concerning the Scheduled Tribe certificate he had produced at the time of his employment in government service.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran held that though ‘past sins’ had come to cast a shadow on the retired engineer, it was best to put the case to rest.
The only saving grace for the man came in the form of the Supreme Court noticing that he had failed to obtain any benefit from his alleged “misdemeanour”.
“..only considering the fact that the appellant was not able to obtain any benefit of the status he wrongly claimed and the futility of taking the prosecution to its logical conclusion at this point of time we are inclined to put the controversy at rest but, however, making it clear that none can claim parity on the basis of the certificate which in any event is found to be not valid,” the Supreme Court held.
Case
The appellant, an engineer, was first appointed in the Central Public Works Department and later appointed to the state service in 1984. His entry into the state service was on availing the benefit of a ‘backward class’ based on a certificate issued, which indicated his caste as ‘Mallah’.
In 1993, the appellant produced a certificate before the government asserting his roots in the ‘Majhwar’ community notified in the Scheduled Tribes order issued under Article 342 of the Constitution.
Initially, the government approved it, but later, based on an enquiry conducted, the Tehsildar, Kalpi, District Jalaun, reported that the photocopy of the certificate alleged to have been issued does not bear the issue serial number.
It was concluded that the certificate was not one issued by the said office, based on which an FIR was registered in Police Station, Kalpi, District Jalaun in 2004.
The Supreme Court observed that when Gopal applied to the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission for the post of Assistant Engineer, he had mentioned his caste as ‘Mallah’, a ‘backward class’, and later, in 1993, after nine years of joining service, the certificate was produced.
The jurisdictional court having proceeded to issue a summons, the appellant filed an application for quashing the FIR, which was rejected by a high court judgment, which was under challenge before the Supreme Court.
Findings
The counsel appearing for the appellant asserted that his client belongs to a Scheduled Tribe community as reflected in the certificate issued, but the court made the following observations:
- We are unable to place any reliance on Annexure P4 (certificate), since the copy does not show the date on which it was issued and also based on the report of the Tehsildar, which is fatal to its validity.
- Further, it is pertinent that the appellant’s appointment in state service was after the date seen from the certificate.
- There is no perceivable reason as to why the claim was not made at that point in time.
- He sought selection only on the basis of his backward caste certificate.
Government counsel Ruchira Goel submitted that as of now, every attempt made by the appellant to assert his tribal status as per the certificate had failed, and the writ petition on that count before the High Court has also been dismissed.
Gopal was stated to be a septuagenarian, retired from service in the meanwhile, left alone in this world, having lost his wife and both children, the vagaries of fate.
“A person who tries to appropriate the benefits due to a Scheduled Tribe by dubious means, not only commits an illegal act but also denies a rightful candidate such benefits and normally does not deserve any grace,” the Supreme Court noted.
The Supreme Court, however, underlined the fact that the appellant was not able to obtain any benefit of the status he wrongly claimed and the futility of taking the prosecution to its logical conclusion.
“..at this point of time we are inclined to put the controversy at rest but making it clear that none can claim parity on the basis of the certificate which in any event is found to be not valid,” it held.
Decision
The Supreme Court, therefore, quashed the criminal proceedings initiated in 2006 against the man, aside from the pending case in the local trial court.
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