1 19 wp6007.26.odt IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR WRIT PETITION NO.6007 OF 2026 Chandrakant s/o Govindrao Ninawe and anr vs. Joint Commissioner and Vice Chairman, Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Court' s or Judge' s Order Coram, appearances, Court' s Orders or directions and Registrar' s order Shri S.R.Narnaware, Counsel for Petitioners. Mrs.S.Jachak, Addl.G.P. for the Respondent. CORAM : URMILA JOSHI-PHALKE & NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, JJ. DATED : 06th AUGUST, 2026. 1. Heard. 2. By this petition, the petitioners have sought a limited prayer seeking directions to the respondent – Joint Commissioner and Vice Chairman, Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur to decide caste claim of the petitioners belonging to caste “Halba Scheduled Tribe” within stipulated time framework. 3. Shri S.R.Narnaware, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that Dhananjay s/o Govindrao Ninawe, who is real brother of the petitioner, has been issued Caste Validity Certificate dated 6.5.2026 in pursuance to the judgment of this court in Writ Petition No.1915 of 2019. He submits that as the real brother of the petitioners has been granted Caste Validity Certificate by the respondent scrutiny committee. The caste claim of the petitioner too is pending before the same committee I.e, the Joint Commissioner and Vice Chairman, Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur should decide the caste claim of the petitioners relying on the 2 19 wp6007.26.odt said Caste Validity Certificate in consonance with the decision in the case of Apoorva d/o Vinay Nichale vs. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, reported in (2010) 6 Mah LJ 401. 4. Per contra, Mrs.S.Jachak, learned Addl.G.P for the respondent - Committee, opposes the contentions of learned counsel for the petitioners on the ground that only after obtaining orders, the Caste Validity Certificate was issued on 24.6.2026 in pursuance to the judgment passed by this court in Writ Petition No.1915 of 2019. The petitioners in a haste have submitted a proposal before the respondent – Committee. She further submitted that the respondent – Committee is already burdened with the proceedings of the caste claims of students and this court may not direct any timeline to decide the claim of petitioners. 5. We have given our anxious consideration to the submission made by learned counsel appearing for the respective parties. 6. Admittedly, neither petitioners are students nor there is any rejoinder made for deciding the caste claim within the stipulated time framework. As such, we are not inclined to give any timeline for deciding the caste claim of the petitioners. However, taking into consideration Rule 6(2) of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificate Act, 2000 period prescribed is six months. 7. In view of the above, taking into consideration the provisions, , we direct the respondent – Joint Commissioner and Vice Chairman, Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Nagpur to decide the caste claim of the petitioners as expeditiously as possible 3 19 wp6007.26.odt and preferably within six months from the date of receipt of proposal. The petitioners shall cooperate the respondent – Committee during the proceedings. 8. With these directions, the writ petition is disposed of. [JUDGE] [JUDGE] !!BrWankhede !!