Sr. No. 905 & 906 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD 905 WRIT PETITION NO. 13339 OF 2026 Akash Nandu Range VERSUS The State Of Maharashtra Thr Secretary And Others … AND 906 WRIT PETITION NO. 13340 OF 2026 Laxman Bhagwan Ghorpade VERSUS The State Of Maharashtra Thr Secretary And Others ... Mr. Sunil Mahadevappa Vibhute, Advocate for the Petitioners. Mr. S. B. Pulkundwar and Mr. R. S. Wani, AGPs for the Respondents- State. … CORAM : KISHORE C. SANT & JITENDRA JAIN, JJ. DATE : 30th SEPTEMBER, 2026 PER COURT : 1. Heard learned Advocate for the Petitioners and learned AGP for the Respondent-State. 2. The limited prayer in these Petitions is for a direction to Respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee to decide the tribe validity claims of the respective Petitioners, which are stated to be pending since 10th December, 2025 in Writ Petition No. 13339 of 2026 and since 31st December, 2024 in Writ Petition No. 13340 of 2026. 3. Considering the limited nature of the prayer, Respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee is directed to decide the tribe validity Jhs/ 1/2 2026:BHC-AUG:45826-DB Sr. No. 905 & 906 claims of the respective Petitioners, in accordance with law and on their own merits, as expeditiously as possible and, in any event, within a period of six months from today. 4. It is stated that both the Petitioners are presently in service. In the circumstances, the respective employers shall not take any adverse action against the Petitioners merely on the ground of non- production of the tribe validity certificates for a period of six months from today or until the respective tribe validity claims are decided by Respondent No. 2 – Scrutiny Committee, whichever is earlier. 5. Both the Writ Petitions stand disposed of in the above terms. [JITENDRA JAIN, J.] [KISHORE C. SANT, J.] Jhs/ 2/2