Ankita Sandeep Hadfadkar v. State Of Goa, Thr. Chief Secretary And 3 ORS
2026:BHC-GOA:996-DB Suzana.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA
WRIT PETITION NO.381 OF 2026 Ankita Sandeep Hadfadkar, Aged 27 years, Indian National, R/o. Golna Waddo, Pomburpa, Bardez Goa.
versus
1. State of Goa, Through Chief Secretary, Having office at Secretariat, Porvorim-Goa.
2. Office of the Principal Chief Engineer, Public Works Department, Althinho-Panaji, Goa.
3. The Dy. Director (Administration), Public Works Dept, Althinho, Panaji-Goa.
4. The Director (Administration), Public Works Department, Althinho, Panaji Goa.
... Petitioner.
Respondents.
Mr. S. D. Lotlikar, Senior Advocate with Ms. Clarisa Fernandes, Advocate for the Petitioner.
Ms. Akshata N. Bhat, Additional Government Advocate for Respondents.
CORAM: VALMIKI MENEZES & AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, JJ.
DATED: 6th MAY, 2026.
ORAL JUDGMENT: (Per. Valmiki Menezes, J.) 1.
Registry to waive office objections and register the Writ Petition.
2.
Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith with the consent of the learned Counsel for the parties.
3.
Pursuant to our Order of 27.01.2026, the Director of Social Welfare, through its Scrutiny Committee, has conducted scrutiny to verify the caste status of the Petitioner, who was claiming to belong to the OBC category. This was upon the Petitioner having been selected to the post of Junior Engineer (Civil) in the Public Works Department, one amongst 9 reserved vacant posts in the category of OBC.
4.
In the meantime, other candidates were given the appointment letters appointing them with effect from 31.01.2024 and the Petitioner's appointment was kept pending awaiting the caste verification.
5.
The Scrutiny Committee has now completed the process of caste verification and by its Judgment and Order dated 29.04.2026, has confirmed that the Petitioner belongs to the Bhandari Naik community which is recognized as OBC. Accordingly, the OBC Certificate dated 08.01.2019 which was used by the Petitioner for the purpose of the recruitment process was declared verified and validated as a valid OBC (non-creamy layer) Certificate. As a consequence, therefore, the Scrutiny Committee has confirmed the Certificate produced by the Petitioner during the recruitment process for the post of Junior Engineer (Civil). 6.
Based on these facts, therefore, consequently, the Petitioner will have to be issued an appointment letter to the post of Junior Engineer (Civil) by the Public Works Department. Needless to state that the appointment letter shall be with effect from the same date as has been issued to the other candidates under the same recruitment process. All consequential benefits shall flow based upon the appointment from the date of the initial appointment, as granted to all other candidates under the same process. 7.
Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, J. VALMIKI MENEZES, J. Signed by: MARIA SUZANA REBELLO Designation: Personal Assistant Date: 06/05/2026 15:06:55