1 / 6 906-IA-7476-26-IN-WP-10144-26.odt IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION INTERIM APPLICATION NO.7476 OF 2026 IN WRIT PETITION NO.10144 OF 2026 Rakesh Shamrao Mali .... Petitioner versus The State of Maharashtra, through its Secretary, Law & Judiciary Department & Ors. .... Respondents ….... • Mr. Vikrant Khare a/w Mr. Pratik Tambe a/w Mr. Ganesh Pandit a/w Arahat Dhivare, Advocate for Applicant in IA/Petitioner in WP. • Dr. Milind Sathe, AG a/w Ms. Amruta Nerlekar i/b. Mr. Rahul Nerlekar, for the Respondent No.3/The Bombay High Court. • Mr. O. A. Chandurkar, Addl. GP a/w Ms. Gauri Raghuwanshi, AGP, for the State/Respondent. • Mr. Ashutosh Kulkarni a/w Mr. Hrutik R. Chavan a/w Mr. Soham Salunke, Advocate for Respondent No.2/MPSC in WP/10144/2026. • Mr. Vaibhav Kulkarni, Advocate for Respondent Nos.4 and 5 in WP/10144/2026. CORAM : SARANG V. KOTWAL & RANJITSINHA RAJA BHONSALE, JJ. DATE : 24th SEPTEMBER, 2026 P.C. : 1. This is an application in a disposed of Writ Petition No.10144 of 2026. The order dated 28/08/2026 in the Writ Petition records paragraph Nos.2 and 3 as follows : Nesarikar MANUSHREE NESARIKAR Digitally signed by MANUSHREE NESARIKAR Date: 2026.09.24 16:41:33 +0530 2 / 6 906-IA-7476-26-IN-WP-10144-26.odt “2. The learned Senior Advocate appearing for the High Court, Dr. Sathe, submits that the above stated candidates namely Ms. Sneha Hanamant Bhand and Ms. Vidya Dipak Pawar have now qualified and are appointed in the 2022 selection process, being at serial Nos.113 and 114 referred to by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in paragraph no.5(i) of its order dated 19th August, 2026. Therefore, both these Petitioners before us today, who were in the 10% waiting list of candidates at Serial No.1, Mr. Somanath Bhagwan Gore and at Serial No.2, Mr. Rakesh Shamrao Mali, would be included in the list of selected candidates in view of the above peculiar facts and circumstances. 3. Considering the above fact situation, both these Petitioners shall be deemed to be included against the available two vacancies for the 2023 recruitment process. The State Government shall process these names and make the recommendation by following the due procedure provided in law, for facilitating their appointment as Judicial Officers.” 3 / 6 906-IA-7476-26-IN-WP-10144-26.odt 2. With these directions, the Applicant’s Petition was disposed of. Now this Interim Application is preferred because the grievance of the Applicant i.e. the original Petitioner Rakesh Shamrao Mali, is that his name is still not included in the list published in the 2023 recruitment process. 3. Heard Mr. Vikrant Khare, learned Counsel for the Applicant/Petitioner, Dr. Milind Sathe, learned AG for the Respondent No.3, Mr. O. A. Chandurkar, Addl. GP for the State, Mr. Ashutosh Kulkarni, learned counsel for Respondent No.2 Mr. Vaibhav Kulkarni, learned counsel for Respondent Nos.4 and 5. 4. The basic controversy arose because the two candidates namely Vidya Dipak Pawar and Sneha Hanamant Bhand were included in the list of 2023 recruitment process. However, by virtue of the order passed by Hon’ble Supreme Court their names were directed to be published in the 2022 selection process. They continued to be shown as successful candidates in the 2023 recruitment process and therefore the Petitioner's name who was at waiting list No.2 could not be and was not included in the 2023 recruitment process. 4 / 6 906-IA-7476-26-IN-WP-10144-26.odt 5. Today a revised list of candidates eligible for recommendation for the 2022 selection process is produced before us. It is dated 23/09/2026. It is taken on record and marked ‘X’ for identification. In that list, the names of the two candidates Ms. Sneha Hanamant Bhand and Ms. Vidya Dipak Pawar are included at serial Nos.115 and 116. Consequently, their names will have to be removed from the list of 2023 process and as a further consequence, there would be two vacancies which can be filled by the candidates at waiting list Nos.1 and 2. The present Applicant is at waiting list No.2 and therefore he is expected to be included in the selection list for the 2023 process. 6. Learned AG appearing for the Administration of this Court submitted that there is a process for selecting and posting the candidates. There are different steps. They are as follows : 5 / 6 906-IA-7476-26-IN-WP-10144-26.odt The Maharashtra Public Service Commission recommends candidates and sends the list to the State of Maharashtra for issuance of appointment notification. The State of Maharashtra then calls for verification of documents and police verification. If any query arises regarding a particular candidate, the State of Maharashtra seeks opinion of the High Court regarding the appointment of such candidate. After obtaining the opinion of the High Court, the State of Maharashtra issues the notification of appointment in respect of the recommended candidates. The notification is placed before the Hon’ble The Chief Justice for posting orders and thereafter posting orders for the selected candidates are issued and they are sent for training at Maharashtra Judicial Academy, Uttan. Learned AG submitted that this process will take some time. 7. The fresh notification for the 2022 selection process was issued on 23/09/2026. Consequently, now those two posts for 2023 process will be given to the candidates at waiting list Nos.1 and 2, which includes the present Applicant who is waiting list No.2. This will be subject to the process referred to 6 / 6 906-IA-7476-26-IN-WP-10144-26.odt by the learned AG. In view of the fact that the two candidates from the 2023 list are already accommodated in the list for 2022 selection process, there is no difficulty in including the Applicant’s name in the 2023 selection process, subject to the above process. Therefore no further directions are necessary. The only difficulty that remains is that the training program for 2023 candidates is due to start from 26/09/2026. Therefore, in the interest of justice and to facilitate the entire process, the Applicant is permitted to take part in that training program. He shall be permitted to participate in the training program, which starts from 26/09/2026. His participation in the training program shall be subject to the process referred to by the learned AG. 8. The Applicant shall attend and report to the Maharashtra Judicial Academy, Uttan on 26/09/2026. 9. The application is disposed of. (RANJITSINHA RAJA BHONSALE, J.) (SARANG V. KOTWAL, J.)