HC Upholds Cancellation of Lambada Certificates
Says migrated families lost ST status claim
Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court upheld the decision of the authorities and a single judge bench in cancelling the ST-Lambada caste certificates issued to a family in Adilabad district, who reportedly migrated from Maharashtra in 1956 and had been recognised as members of the community for over 70 years since the formation of the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The family members had served as vice-MPP, sarpanch , MPTC and other political posts on the reservation for the ST-Lambada community.
The court, while allowing the cancellation of caste certificates, considered the clarification of tribal welfare department which stated that the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, effective from 26-01-1950, applied only to tribal communities ordinarily residing in the state concerned at that time. The department said that amendments such as Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 (Act 108 of 1976) would apply solely to Lambada community people whose ancestors or descendants were residents in Telangana as on 26-01-1950.
The court agreed with the contention of the authorities, who clarified that those who migrated after 1950 could not claim benefit under the 1950 Order merely on account of later residence.
The division bench comprising Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar affirmed the order of a single judge dated October 29, 2025, which had upheld theAdilibad collector’s decision and directed verification of the social status of six members of that family by the district legal scrutiny committee.
Chouhan Devanand and six of his family members including sons and daughters filed an appeal. They contended that they belonged to the ST-Lambada community and that their certificates had been routinely renewed based on documents issued by the All India Banjara Seva Sangh (AIBSS).
They alleged political influence behind the complaint lodged by the district president of the organisation and argued that the cancellation order dated May 28, 2025, was passed without proper notice or hearing. They questioned how certificates held for decades could be cancelled.. They sought a declaration that the cancellation was illegal and arbitrary.
The collector stated that the DLSC found no evidence of the family’s ST status prior to 1950 and that the appellants’ ancestors had migrated from Maharashtra in 1956, making them ineligible for ST-Lambada community status in Telangana. The collector also recorded that two of the appellants faced criminal complaints for allegedly fabricating letters on the AIBSS letterhead.
The bench noted that the 1993 Telangana Community Certificates Act provided for a statutory appeal and review mechanism, which the appellants had bypassed without justification. It upheld the findings that the certificates were falsely obtained and that natural justice was duly complied with.
