Ritesh Jitendra Thakur v. The State Of Maharashtra Through Principal Secretary And Others

(1)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO. 1783 OF 2026 Ritesh Jitendra Thakur, Age : 24 Years, Occ. Student, R/o. Police Head Quarter Building No.1, Room No.11, Dhule.

..PETITIONER

VERSUS

1.

The State of Maharashtra, Through Principal Secretary, Tribal Development Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai-32.

2.

The Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Dhule, Shindumanik S. No. 53, Opp.

Ekvira Devi High School, Sharadha Nagar, near Vidya Nagar Devpur, Dhule 3.

The Sub Divisional Officer, Erandol, Division Erandol, Dist. Jalgaon ..RESPONDENTS ...

Advocate for the Petitioner : Mr. Kishor T. Shirrurkar AGP for Respondent/State: Mr. V. M. Jaware ....

CORAM : SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE AND ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ.

DATED : FEBRUARY 17, 2026 ORDER:- 1.

Heard.

2.

By this Writ Petition, the petitioner is challenging the order dated 19.11.2025 passed by the respondent No.2/Tribe

(2) Committee, by which the tribe claim of the petitioner has been disposed of, due to non-co-operation from the petitioner, in deciding his tribe claim.

3.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, the petitioner will appear before the scrutiny committee on 26.02.2026 and will extend full co-operation in deciding his tribe claim.

4.

Per contra, learned A.G.P. submits that the petitioner is negligent right from the beginning and did not co-operate with respondent No.2, as a result of which, respondent No.2/Tribe Committee was constrained to dispose of the tribe claim of the petitioner.

5.

Be that as it may, since the matter pertains to the social status, we deem it appropriate to grant one more opportunity to the petitioner to prosecute his tribe claim before respondent No.2/Tribe Committee.

6.

In that view of the matter, we set-aside the impugned order dated 19.11.2025 passed by respondent No.2/Tribe Scrutiny Committee by restoring the proceedings of petitioner's tribe claim to its original position and direct to decide the same, on its own merits and in accordance with law.

(3) 7.

The petitioner undertakes to appear before respondent No.2/ Tribe Committee on 26.02.2026. In peculiar facts and circumstances, we direct respondent No.2/Tribe Committee to decide the tribe claim of the petitioner as expeditiously as possible and within a period of eight months from today. (ABASAHEB D. SHINDE) (SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE) JUDGE JUDGE YSK/