*1* 21-wp-12123-2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD 21 WRIT PETITION NO. 12123 OF 2026 Shaikh Altaf Husain Mohammad Hanif And Others VERSUS The State Of Maharashtra Through Its Secretary And Others ... Ms. Megha Y. Mali, Advocate for the Petitioner Mr. N. D. Batule, AGP for Respondents/State ... CORAM : NITIN B. SURYAWANSHI & ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ. DATE : 16th SEPTEMBER 2026 P. C. :- 1. Admittedly, the issue raised in this Petition is squarely covered by the decisions rendered by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Writ Petition No. 248 of 2026 and connected matters, dated 20th April, 2026 and dated 4th December, 2024 in Writ Petition No. 13241 of 2024. 2. For the reasons stated in the said orders, the Writ Petition stands allowed in the following terms: I. Respondent / Education Officer (Primary and Secondary), Zilla Parishad, shall scrutinize the records of these Petitioners and the places at which they are deployed for performing Narwade 2026:BHC-AUG:42706-DB *2* 21-wp-12123-2026 their duties, within a period of 30 days from today, considering the Government Resolution dated 29.02.2024. II. The cases which have no legal impediment after verification, shall be cleared by the concerned Respondents and the salary benefits to which the Petitioners are entitled to, in the light of the one step pay scale made available to the employees working in the Tribal and PESA areas, shall be paid to them along with arrears as well as their current salary, within a period of 30 days, thereafter. III. After scrutiny, if the Petitioners, on the basis of their record, are found to be ineligible, the concerned Respondent would issue notice to the Petitioners, so as to enable them to appear before the said authority and address it. IV. After such hearing, which shall be completed within 120 days, the concerned Respondent shall pass an appropriate order and grant benefits of one step pay scale to those candidates, who are found to be eligible. V. The Petitioners, who may suffer an adverse order after the above stated exercise is completed, shall be at liberty to avail Narwade *3* 21-wp-12123-2026 of a statutory remedy, as is permissible in law and in the light of the Government Resolution dated 29.02.2024 issued by the General Administration Department. (ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, J.) (NITIN B. SURYAWANSHI, J.) Narwade