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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

Digitally

signed by CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

URMILA

URMILA PRAMOD

PRAMOD INGALE

INGALE Date:

2026.02.05

19:24:59 WRIT PETITION NO. 15653 OF 2023

+0530

Harshwardhan Devidas Gangurde

aged 22 years, Occupation : Student

residing at Plot No.3, Gokul Vandan

apartment, Behind Akash Petrol Pump

Kalanagar, Mhasarul, Dist. Nashik … Petitioner

Versus

1. State of Maharashtra

through its Secretary, Tribal

Development Department,

Mantralaya, Mumbai 400 032.

2. Scheduled Tribe Certificate

Scrutiny Committee, Nashik – 2

Division through its Member

Secretary, having its office at

Dist. Nashi.

3. Pune Vidyarthi Griha’s

Shriram Sadashiv Dhamankar

College of Commerce, Science & Arts,

206, Dindori Road, Near MERI Nashik 422004..… Respondents

****

Mr. R.K. Mendadkar a/w Mrs. Priyanka Shaw, Mr.Jagdish C.

Kawale, Mrs.Prajakta Pashte, for the Petitioner.

, for the Respondent.

Mr. Arun Padekar, Law Officer, Nashik, present.

Mr. A.I. Patel, Addl. GP a/w Smt. V.S. Nimbalkar, AGP for

Respondent-State.

****

CORAM : M.S.KARNIK &

S.M.MODAK, JJ.

DATE : 04^th FEBRUARY 2026

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ORAL JUDGMENT (PER M.S.KARNIK, J.) :

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned AGP

for the respondent-State.

2. The caste claim of the petitioner as belonging to

‘Mahadev Koli, Scheduled Tribe’ has been invalidated by

respondent no.2- Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee

(‘the Scrutiny Committee’, for short) by the impugned order dated

19/06/2023. There is no dispute that there are two holders of the

certificates of validity viz. Devidas Dagu Gangurde who is the

father of the petitioner and Navneet Devidas Gangurde who is the

real brother of the petitioner. On the basis of the validity

certificates granted to the close blood relatives of the petitioner, in

view of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of

Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti Vs. State of

Maharashtra and ors.¹ and by this Court in the case of Apoorva d/o

Vinay Nichale Vs. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No.1

and others², there should be no difficulty in issuing a certificate of

validity in favour of the petitioner being a close blood relative of

Devidas and Navneet who have been granted such certificates.

1 (2023) 16 SCC 415

2 2010 (6) Mh.L.J. 401

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3. However, learned AGP was at pains to point out that

the caste validity certificate issued to Devidas was without

conducting the Vigilance Cell enquiry. It is submitted that even so

far as Navneet is concerned, there was no Vigilance Cell enquiry

conducted. It is further pointed out that the Committee has

discarded these certificates for good reasons inasmuch as the

Vigilance Cell enquiry conducted in the caste claim of the

petitioner revealed that there are several interpolations and

changes made in the documents relied upon by the petitioner in

support of his caste claim. Learned AGP therefore submitted that

the present Scrutiny Committee has recorded a finding that after a

detailed Vigilance Cell enquiry was conducted, it was found that

the petitioner had relied upon various documents which were

required to be discarded for the reasons mentioned by the Scrutiny

Committee. It is further submitted that the caste validity

certificates were issued by the then Scrutiny Committee in favour

of Devidas and Navneet in a most casual manner without adhering

to the procedure expected of the Scrutiny Committee to follow.

4. The submissions of the learned AGP are attractive. The

reading of the impugned order passed by the Scrutiny Committee

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does go to show that the Committee has after an elaborate exercise

and after directing Vigilance Cell enquiry found it appropriate to

discard the validity