Raunak Prashant Kale, Thr. Natural Guardian Father Prashant Gulabrao Kale v. State Of Maharashtra, Thr. Secretary, General Administrative Department, Mumbai And ANR.
2026:BHC-NAG:6821-DB 943 wp 2757-2026.odt 1/4
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR WRIT PETITION NO. 2757 OF 2026 Raunak Prashant Kale Through Natural Guardian Father i.e.
Prashant Gulabrao Kale aged 17 years, Occ. Student, R/o Nandrun, Daryapur, Amravati - 444706 ...PETITIONER
VERSUS
1.
State of Maharashtra Through its Secretary, General Administrative Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai - 32 2.
The Sub-Divisional Officer, Daryapur, Dist. Amravati ...RESPONDENTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ms Rajshree S. Kabra, Advocate for petitioner Ms H.S. Dhande, AGP for respondent/State --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORAM
:
SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR AND NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.
DATE :
29.04 .2026 ORAL JUDGMENT (PER :
NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.
) Heard.
943 wp 2757-2026.odt 2/4 2.
Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with the consent of the parties.
3.
The present petition prays for a direction to the respondent No.2, Sub-Divisional Officer, Daryapur, Amravati, not to harp upon the observation/opinion dated 16.03.2026 and adhere to the mandatory provisions 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, 4.
The facts as can be seen from the petition are as under : On 11.02.2026, the petitioner being minor to his father sought for a caste certificate in 'C' format belonging to 'Koli Mahadev' caste by submitting an application with the respondent No.2 along with necessary documents. However, vide an observation dated 16.03.2026, the respondent No.2 has asked for caste validity certificate of the father. The learned Counsel for the petitioner relies on a judgment of this Court passed in Writ Petition No. 7509/2025 to submit that identical controversy has been
943 wp 2757-2026.odt 3/4 decided by this Court. She therefore prays for an identical order in the present matter. It can be seen from the facts that the petitioner being holding a caste certificate of 'Koli Mahadev' issued by the competent authority in the old format and applied for the same in a new format.
5.
The learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner has placed on record the communication received from the Tribal Research and Training Institute, Pune dated 12.03.2020 whereby the Department has issued directions to all the Sub Divisional Officers to issue Caste Certificates in the new format i.e. Form-C1 as contemplated under Rule 3 of the Maharashtra Scheduled Tribes (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Certificate Rules, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as "the Rules of 2003") after collecting the old Caste Certificates. This fact has not been disputed by the learned A.G.P. That apart, the cousin brother of the petitioner has already been issued the Caste Certificate by the respondent no.2 - S.D.O.
6.
In view of the above, we direct respondent No.2 Sub Divisional officer, Daryapur, Dist. Amrvati to issue Caste Certificate
943 wp 2757-2026.odt 4/4 to the petitioner in the new format i.e. Form-C1 as contemplated under the Rules of 2003 after collecting and verifying his old Caste Certificate of "Koli Mahadev" (Scheduled Tribe) issued in old format, within two weeks from the date of receipt of this order. 7.
Needless to mention that validation of the Caste claim will be subject to the scrutiny of the concerned Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee.
8.
The writ petition stands disposed of in the abovesaid terms. 9.
Learned AGP to communicate this order to the respondent No.2- S.D.O.
(NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) (SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, J.) Jayashree..