Satish Pandurang Pawar v. The S.T. Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Thr. Member/Secretary, Amravati And ANR.

2026:BHC-NAG:2294-DB

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,

NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.

WRIT PETITION NO. 8309/2025 Satish Pandurang Pawar, Aged 24 years, Occ. Education, R/o. Masrud, Buldhana, District Amravati .....PETITIONER(S) // VERSUS // (1) The Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Through its Member/Secretary, Bhatkuli Road, Amravati, District Amravati (2) The Sub-Divisional Officer, Buldhana, Tq. & District Buldhana .....RESPONDENT(S) ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Ms. Rajshree Kabra, Advocate for the Petitioner(s) Shri A.S. Fulzele, Addl. GP for the Respondent/State ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● CORAM : M.S. JAWALKAR & NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.

FEBRUARY 10 , 2026 ORAL

JUDGMENT

:- (PER:- M.S. JAWALKAR, J.) .

RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally by consent of learned Counsel for the respective parties.

(2) It is the contention of the Petitioner that though the father of the Petitioner was having the tribe certificate issued prior to coming into force of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, 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 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act of 2000"), the SubDivisional Officer, Buldhana rejected the Application of the Petitioner for issuance of tribe certificate of 'Koli Mahadeo' vide order dated 28/03/2023.

(3) The above order was challenged by the Petitioner before the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati in Appeal bearing No. 3/4/Pawar/2025. During the pendency of the said Appeal, due to some agitation before the Sub-Divisional Officer, Buldhana, the caste certificate was issued in favour of the Petitioner on 14/02/2024. However, this fact was not brought to the notice of the Appellate Authority i.e. the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati. The Caste Scrutiny Committee treated the said Appeal as proposal for validation and passed its judgment thereby rejecting the claim of the Petitioner.

(4) By way of this Writ Petition, the Petitioner is seeking quashing and setting aside of the orders dated 29/10/2025 and 28/03/2023 passed by the Respondent Nos. 1 and 2 respectively. The tribe certificate is issued to the Petitioner during the pendency of the Appeal declaring that the Petitioner belongs to the tribe 'Koli Mahadeo' on the basis of certificate issued in favour of father of the Petitioner before coming into force the said Act of 2000. He is seeking permission to retain the same. (5) Admittedly, tribe certificate was issued to the father of the Petitioner in the year 1992 i.e. before coming into force the Act of 2000. In our opinion, the Caste Scrutiny Committee has exceeded its jurisdiction and decided the validity itself. As such, both the orders passed by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, Amravati and the Sub-Divisional Officer, Buldhana are required to be quashed and set aside.

(6) Hence, we proceed to pass the following order:- (a) The Writ Petition is allowed.

(b) The order dated 28/03/2023 passed by the Respondent No. 2 - Sub-Divisional Officer, Buldhana

and the order dated 29/10/2025 passed by the Respondent No. 1 - Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Amravati are hereby quashed and set aside.

(c) The Caste Scrutiny Committee is hereby directed to decide afresh the validity of the tribe certificate issued by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Buldhana dated 14/02/2024, if fresh proposal is submitted for validation by the Petitioner.

Rule is made absolute in the above terms. Pending Application(s), if any, stand(s) disposed of. (NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) (M.S. JAWALKAR, J.)