Ravikiran S/O Madhukar Katole v. The S.T. Caste Certif. Scrutiny Committee - Thr. Member Secy. And Dy. Director, Amravati And ANR.

2026:BHC-NAG:5611-DB 928.WP2761.26.odt 1/6

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR WRIT PETITION NO. 2761 OF 2026 1.

Ravikiran S/o Madhukar Katole, Aged about 52 years, Occ.- Service, R/o Dhanki, Tq.

Umarkhed, Dist. Yavatmal.

... PETITIONER ...VERSUS...

1.

The Scheduled Tribes Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committeethrough its Member Secretary and Deputy Director, Sanna Building, Opp. Govt. Rest House Camp, Amravati-444601.

2) The Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Yavatmal, Dist. Yavatmal.

...RESPONDENTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Ashwin Deshpande, Advocate for the petitioner Ms. H. N. Jaipurkar, AGP for the respondent/State. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CORAM :

SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR AND NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.

DATED :

th APRIL, 2026.

928.WP2761.26.odt 2/6 ORAL JUDGMENT ( NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) 1.

Issue notice to the respondents.

2.

Learned AGP waives notice for respondent no. 1/State. 3.

In view of the order we are passing herein below notice to the respondent no. 2 is being dispensed with.

4.

Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. 5.

The present petition is filed seeking quashing and setting aside of the order dated 23.02.2021 passed by the respondent no. 1. Alternatively, it also prays to reopen and decide the caste claim of the petitioner expeditiously and for decision of the same on its own merits.

6.

Facts which can be culled out from the petition are as under:- a) On 29.10.1992, the respondent no. 2, i.e., the Zilla Parishad, Yavatmal, sent the caste certificate of the petitioner for verification to the respondent no. 1, Scrutiny Committee.

b) On 18.09.1995 the Scrutiny Committee issued a conditional validity to the petitioner as belonging to Halba Koshti Scheduled

928.WP2761.26.odt 3/6 Tribe, but on 28.01.2005, i.e., after 10 years, an order was passed by which the conditional validity granted to the petitioner was cancelled. This prompted the petitioner to file a petition before this Court bearing Writ Petition No. 4807 of 2005, and vide order dated 22.03.2007, relegated the matter back to the Scrutiny Committee for taking a fresh decision.

c) Thereafter, on 13.08.2007, the Committee forwarded the first Vigilance Report to the petitioner, and on 17.05.2019, i.e., after a lapse of more than 12 years, forwarded a copy of the second Vigilance Report on the even date. The petitioner filed a Writ Petition bearing No. 8525 of 2019 seeking directions to the Committee to decide his caste claim. This Court, vide order dated 25.02.2020, directed the Committee to decide the caste claim of the petitioner by the end of July 2020. Thereafter, the matter proceeded, and the impugned order was passed on 23.02.2021. 7.

We have heard Mr. Ashwin Deshpande, learned counsel for the petitioner as also the Ms. H. N. Jaipurkar, learned AGP for the respondent no. 1/State.

8.

The learned counsel for the petitioner, by pointing out paras

928.WP2761.26.odt 4/6 10 and 11 of the impugned order, states that the only reason for not deciding the claim of the petitioner on its own merits is the pendency of a special leave to appeal bearing Appeal No. 10240 of 2014 (State of Maharashtra Vs. Anand Nilkantha Katole). The Scrutiny Committee, on the premise that the petitioner is a relative of the said Anand Nilkantha Katole family, has simply proceeded to adjourn the matter. The learned counsel for the petitioner, by pointing us to the family tree, submits that neither the name of Anand Katole appears in the family tree nor the name of Nilkantha Katole is found therein. He further submits that his son, namely Aditya Katole, has been granted a validity certificate by virtue of the judgment of this Court passed in Writ Petition No. 5091 of 2019.

He therefore submits that the entire order of the Scrutiny Committee, simply adjourning the matter on the premise of pendency of the Civil Appeal, cannot be countenanced. He therefore prays for quashing of the order and for directing the Scrutiny Committee to decide the matter on its own merits.

9.

Per contra, the learned AGP opposes the contentions canvassed by the learned counsel for the petitioner and supports the impugned order.

928.WP2761.26.odt 5/6 10.

We have given our thoughtful consideration to the matter in hand and also perused the documents. It is a matter of record that the son of the petitioner, namely Aditya Katole, was granted a validity certificate by virtue of the judgment of this Court in Writ Petition No. 5091 of 2019, passed on 06.08.2019. 11.

Furthermore, as can be seen from the family tree placed by the petitioner on record (which, according to him, is found by the Vigilance), neither the name of either Anand Katole or Nilkanth Katole is found therein. Therefore, in our view, simply to adjourn the matter on a factually incorrect premise that the petitioner belongs to Anand Katole family cannot be supported. 12.

In that view of the matter, we partly allow the petition and quash the order dated 23.02.2021 passed by the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Amravati Division, Amravati in Case No.JC/TCSC/AMT/RMK/III-065/03.

13.

We also direct the Scrutiny Committee to decide the claim of the petitioner on its own merits, taking into consideration the family tree and the fact that the son of the petitioner granted validity certificate by this Court. The said claim be decided in

928.WP2761.26.odt 6/6 accordance with law till 30.08.2026.

14.

Writ Petition is disposed of.

(NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) (SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, J.)