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Bombay High Court
Pooja D/O Kishor Sattiwale vs State Of Maha.,Thr. Secretary, ... on 27 January, 2026
Author: M.S. Jawalkar
Bench: M.S. Jawalkar
2026:BHC-NAG:1388-DB
WP5149.25.odt 1/6
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION NO. 5149/2025
1) Pooja d/o Kishor Sattiwale,
Aged about 19 years, Occ. Student,
Resident of Gujaratipura,
Balapur, Taluka Balapur,
District Akola.
... PETITIONER
...VERSUS...
1) State of Maharashtra through its
Secretary, Ministry of Tribal
Welfare And Social Justice
Department, Mantralaya,
Mumbai-400032.
2) District Caste Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, Akola having its office in
the of premises Collectorate,
Administrative Building, 2nd Floor,
Akola-444001 through its Member-
Secretary/Research Officer.
3) Prof. Ram Meghe Institute of
Technology and Research, Badnera
Road, Amravati through its Principal.
4) Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University,
Amravati through its Registrar.
5) State Common Entrancer Test
Cell, 8th Floor, New Excelsior
Building, Mumbai-400001, M.S.
...RESPONDENTS
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Mr. N. C. Phadnis, Advocate for the petitioner
Mr. A. S. Fulzele, Addl. G.P. for respondent nos. 1 and 2/State
Mrs. Sonali Saware, Advocate for the respondent no. 4
Mr. Nikhil Gaikwad, Advocate for the respondent no. 5
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CORAM : SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR AND
NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, JJ.
DATED : 27nd JANUARY, 2026.
ORAL JUDGMENT (PER : NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.)
1. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with
the consent of the learned counsel for the parties.
2. The petition takes exception to the order passed by the
respondent No. 2 - District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee,
Akola, bearing No. 1587, having Case ID No. ED-2024-1567911,
dated 08.07.2025 (order of the Committee dated 03.07.2025). The
petitioner, on the basis of old documents and on the basis of validity
granted to near relatives, prayed for validation of her caste claim
before the respondent No. 2-Committee, which, by the impugned
order, has invalidated the same, constraining the petitioner to
approach this Court.
3. We have heard Mr. N. C. Phadnis, learned counsel for the
petitioner, as also Mr. A. S. Fulzele, learned Additional Government
Pleader for respondent Nos. 1 and 2/State; Mrs. Sonali Saware,
learned counsel for respondent No. 4, and Mr. Nikhil Gaikwad,
learned counsel for respondent No. 5.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner, by taking us through the
impugned order and, more particularly, the list of documents at
Serial Nos. 7 and 8, submits that the reason for discarding the said
documents, which happen to be dated 03.04.1937 and being the
oldest ones, is that there is some variance in the name of Laxmanlal
Moti Ahir. He further submits that, as far as discarding the claim of
the near relatives is concerned, the only reason is that, as per the
genealogical tree submitted by the petitioner, the relationship inter-
se is not established. He further points out the affidavit filed before
the Scrutiny Committee, which has an acknowledgment of the said
Committee, clearly stating that the name of Laxmanlal Motilal Ahir
is the grandfather of the petitioner, while Khushal Madan Sattiwale,
Kartik Madan Sattiwale, and Khushi Kishorlal Sattiwale happen to
be the real sister and cousins of the petitioner. He, therefore,
submits that the order of the Scrutiny Committee cannot withstand
the scrutiny of law.
5. Per contra, the learned Additional Government Pleader, Mr.
A. S. Fulzele, submits that the Caste Scrutiny Committee was
correct in appreciating the contentions on the basis of the
documents on record, and therefore, no infirmity can be found in
the said order.
6. We have considered and appreciated the contentions
canvassed by the learned counsels for the respective parties. We
have also gone through the admission register placed by the
petitioner on record, which clearly mentions the name of Laxman
Moti and his caste as Ahir. As can be seen from the genealogical
tree reflected in the affidavit mentioned supra, as also in the
petition, Laxman happens to be the grandfather of the petitioner. It
is, therefore, clear that the relationship of Laxman with the
petitioner was clearly established. This aspect also is to be
appreciated in the light of the fact that the said genealogical tree
and the relationship inter se, as depicted therein, were never
disputed by the Vigilance Cell or by the Scrutiny Committee.
7. The same is the case while discarding the validity granted to
the near relatives. The relationship inter se between the said
persons named supra, as also the petitioner, was clearly established
by the genealogical tree filed by the petitioner by way of an
affidavit. The order, in our view, is therefore perverse, inasmuch as
it clearly disregards the relationship inter se between the parties.
The order being perverse is liable to be interfered with under Article
226 of the Constitution of India.
8. This Court, vide order dated 8th September, 2025, protected
the admission of the petitioner, in pursuance of which the petitioner
is pursuing her education. The learned counsel for the petitioner
submits that, till the time the Scrutiny Committee issues a validity
certificate, the respondent Nos. 3 and 4 be directed to act upon the
certified copy of the order of this Court. We, therefore, pass the
following order:-
ORDER
i) The Writ Petition is allowed.
ii) Order passed by the respondent no. 2 - District Caste
Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Akola, bearing no. 1587 having
Case ID No.ED-2024-1567911 dated 08.07.2025 (03.07.2025 order
of the Committee) is quashed and set aside.
iii) It is hereby declared that the petitioner belongs to "Ahir
Nomadic Tribes-C".
iv) The respondent no. 2 - District Caste Certificate Scrutiny
Committee, Akola, is directed to issue a caste validity certificate to
the petitioner within four weeks from the date of this order.
v) We, therefore, direct the respondent Nos. 3 and 4 to act upon
the certified copy of the order of this Court till the time the validity
certificate is issued by the respondent No. 2 - Committee.
vi) Rule is made absolute in above terms, the Writ Petition is
disposed of.
(NANDESH S. DESHPANDE, J.) (SMT. M.S. JAWALKAR, J.)
Shubham
