Aashish Kumar S/O Dilip Shinde v. The S.T. Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Thr. Member Secretary, Amravati And ORS.

2026:BHC-NAG:2738-DB 1 J-WP No.7086.2025.odt

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,

NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.

WRIT PETITION NO. 7086 OF 2025 Aashish Kumar s/o Dilip Shinde, Aged about 39 years, Occ. - Police Constable, r/o. Lonar, District Buldhana.

.... PETITIONER // VERSUS // 1) The Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Through its Member Secretary, Chaprasipura, Amravati.

2) The Superintendent of Police, Washim.

3) The State of Maharashtra, through its Secretary, Mantralaya, Mumbai 400 032.

.... RESPONDENTS ______________________________________________________________ Mr. P. R. Parsodkar, Advocate for Petitioner. Mr. N. R. Patil, Assistant Government Pleader for Respondents.

______________________________________________________________ CORAM : SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, AND NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.

DATE : 16 th FEBRUARY, 2026 .

ORAL JUDGMENT : (Per : SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, J.) 1.

Heard learned Counsel for the Petitioner and learned Assistant Government Pleader for the Respondents.

2 J-WP No.7086.2025.odt 2.

RULE. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with the consent of the learned Counsel appearing for the parties. 3.

It appears that the petitioner has forwarded his proposal, on his own, for caste validity. The said proposal came to be rejected by order dated 30/06/2010. The reason for rejection is that the number of applications are increasing and the time get wasted to decide those applications.

4.

It is contention of the petitioner that this order never intimated to him and by application dated 21/07/2025, when he applied for copy of the order, he came to know that the said proposal of 2006 came to be rejected.

5.

It also appears on record that there was a vigilance conducted in the said matter. There is no Section or Rule to debar the proposal to be considered, if not submitted through any Education Institution or by the employer. In fact, Section 6(2) of the Maharashtra Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000, states as under :

3 J-WP No.7086.2025.odt "(1) .....

(2) After obtaining the Caste Certificate from the Competent Authority, any person desirous of availing of the benefits or concessions provided to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes, (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes or Special Backward Category for the purposes mentioned in section 3 may make an application, well in time, in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, to the concerned Scrutiny Committee for the verification of such Caste Certificate and issue of a validity certificate." 6.

In view of the said section, the Scrutiny Committee ought to have considered the proposal, even if filed by the individual person. There is nothing on record to show that this order was communicated to the petitioner. Though, it is true that the petitioner also has not made any enquiry during this period, however, it appears that the documents were obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005, there is no statement made to that effect. As the order of rejection itself is unsustainable in view of Section 6(2) of the said Act, we are inclined to remand the matter back to the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati to decide the proposal of the validity of the caste claim in respect of the petitioner afresh. Hence, we proceed to pass the following order : (i) The writ petition is partly allowed.

4 J-WP No.7086.2025.odt (ii) The impugned order dated 30/06/2010, passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati in Case No. DD/TCSC/AMT/ADS/V-90/06, is hereby quashed and set aside.

(iii) The matter is remanded back to the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati to decide the validity of the caste claim of the petitioner.

(iv) The petitioner is at liberty to place on record the additional documents, if he wants to.

(v) The Caste Scrutiny Committee is directed to take a decision as per provisions of law on its own merit. (vi) The petitioner to appears before the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati on 23/02/2026 along with copy of order of this Court.

7.

The writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms. No order as to costs.

(NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) (SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, J.) Kirtak Signed by: Mr. B.J. Kirtak Designation: PA To Honourable Judge Date: 17/02/2026 17:48:40