- (1.) Heard Mr. P.R. Barman, learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned Advocate General, Tripura as well as Mr. A.K. Bhowmik, learned senior counsel for the respondents. The writ petitioner, Sri Partha Das @ Partha Kumar Das, son of a migrant to Tripura, late Sri Paresh Chandra Das, from Hidrabad Village, Sub-Division Brahmanbaria, District Kumilia of the then East Bengal (now Bangladesh) claims himself as a member of the Scheduled Caste community called "Jailia Kaibarta" which is recognized as one of the scheduled caste communities in the State of Tripura.
(2.) Succinct fact, leading to the filing of the present writ petition which will be sufficient for deciding the core question of the present writ petition, is noted. The father and forefathers of the writ petitioner are members of Jailia Kaibarta community of the then East Bengal (at present Bangladesh) and amongst Jailia Kaibarta community, the term "Choudda Mauja" i.e. 14 (fourteen) villages was very much in the vocabulary. Those fourteen villages were mostly populated by Jailia Kaibarta community. Villages, such as Samrail, Nunpur, Bankali, Shabajpur, Hidrabad and Majlishpur were among those fourteen villages. The forefathers of the petitioner were permanent residents of Hidrabad village, Brahmanbaria Sub-Division, District-Kumilia of the then East Bengal. The petitioner's grandfather late Sitanath Das was a fisherman by profession; and was born and brought up at village Hidrabad of the then East Bengal (at present Bangladesh). It is not clear from the pleadings of the writ petitioner in the writ petition if late Sitanath Das (grandfather of the petitioner) was migrated from village Hidrabad, Brahmanbaria District, East Bengal to Calcutta and then to Tripura. It is also not clear as to name of the village in Bangladesh where the petitioner's father late Paresh Chandra Das was born. But three facts are clear from the pleadings that (i) originally petitioner's father late Paresh Chandra Das was the permanent resident of Hidrabad Village, Sub Division, Brahmanbaria, District Kumilia of Bangladesh, (ii) the petitioner's father late Paresh Chandra Das was not born in the State of Tripura; and (iii) the petitioner's father, Paresh Chandra Das is a migrant to Tripura From Bangladesh.
(3.) According to service record of the petitioner's father, late Paresh Chandra Das, he was born on 10th December, 1928. Late Paresh Chandra Das was born in Bangladesh as it appears from the pleading of the writ petitioner in the present writ petition, and migrated to Calcutta after partition. Late Paresh Chandra Das (petitioner's father) immediately after partition of the country went to Calcutta and engaged himself as worker in the Royal Press. Very lately only in the last part of 1960 the petitioner's father late Paresh Chandra Das shifted to Agartala and procured a job in the then Kohinoor Press, Motor stand, Agartala. It is also stated that the petitioner's father late Paresh Chandra Das entered into postal service in the year 1959 and retired from service in the year 1988. Admittedly in the Service Book of the petitioner's father, duly signed by him and verified by the superior officers, cast of his father is recorded as 'Hindu' (Kayastha). From the pleadings of the petitioner in the present writ petition, it is clear that during the long service career of the petitioner's father, he never claimed his cast status as Scheduled Caste "Jailia Kaibarta" community of Tripura nor he produced any scheduled caste certificate before the authority while he was in service.;