WP-3029-2025-1.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIRCUIT BENCH AT KOLHAPUR CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 3029 OF 2025 Amol s/o Kalyan Salunkhe. Age :34 years. Occ: Service R/o, Patole Galli, At Post. Wafale Tq. Mohol. Dist. Solapur. ...Petitioner. Versus 1. The State of Maharashtra Department of Tribal Development. Mantralaya. Mumbai-32. through its Secretary. 2. Sub Divisional Oicer. Pandharpur. Tq. Pandharpur. Dist. Solapur 3. Scheduled Tribe Certiicate Scrutiny Committee. Pune. Through its Member Secretary. 4. Supdt. of Post Olices, Solapur. Sub Division inspector Posts. Barshi, Solapur. ...Respondents. —————— Mr. Saurabh P. Tandale a/w Jitendra Arun More & Onkar P. Ghatge for the Petitioner. Ms. Tejas J. Kapre, AGP for the Respondent-State. —————— Coram : Sharmila U. Deshmukh & Neeraj P. Dhote, JJ. Date : October 5, 2026. Harish 1 of 5 HARISH VITHAL CHAUDHARI Digitally signed by HARISH VITHAL CHAUDHARI Date: 2026.10.05 12:18:07 +0530 WP-3029-2025-1.doc FINAL ORDER : (PER NEERAJ P. DHOTE, J.) 1. By consent of both the sides, heard inally at the admission stage. 2. Impugned in this writ Petition is the order dated 3rd October 2024 passed by the Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee invalidating the claim of the Petitioner towards ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe. 3. The Petitioner is in the services of the Respondent No.4-Post Oice. He claims to be belonging to the ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe. His caste certiicate as belonging to the ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe came to be referred for veriication to the Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee. In support of his claim, the Petitioner relied on several documents of his blood relatives from the paternal side. The Committee referred the Petitioner's claim for vigilance inquiry. The vigilance inquiry submitted its report. The Petitioner submitted the reply to the show cause notice. Considering the documents on record, the impugned order came to be passed by the Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee. 4. It is submitted by learned counsel for the Petitioner that, there is no dispute about the genealogy. The Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee, by diferent orders dated 3rd September 2024, invalidated the Tribe claim as belonging to the ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe of the Harish 2 of 5 WP-3029-2025-1.doc Petitioner's brother and sister. The said orders were challenged by the Petitioner's brother and sister before this Court in Writ Petition Nos. 12900 of 2024 and 12899 of 2024 which came to be allowed and the said orders invalidating their Tribe claim came to be quashed and set aside, and the Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee is directed to issue the validity certiicates to them as belonging to ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe. He tenders across the bar the copy of the common Order passed in the said writ petition and the copies of the Orders invalidating the Tribe claims of his brother and sister. He submits that as per the relevant rules framed under the statute governing the tribe scrutiny provides that, if the blood relative of the applicant from the paternal side is having the validity certiicate, the validity certiicate is to be issued to the applicant without any further proof. He submits that the Petition be allowed in terms of its prayer clauses. 5. Learned AGP appearing for the Respondent Nos.1 to 3 submits that no fault can be found with the impugned Order as the same is based on the documents on record. She fairly submits that this Court set aside the orders passed by the Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee invalidating the tribe claim of the Petitioner's brother and sister. 6. Perusal of the impugned Order and the orders passed by the Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee invalidating the tribe claim of the Harish 3 of 5 WP-3029-2025-1.doc Petitioner's brother and sister goes to show that, the documents submitted by the Petitioner and his siblings before the Respondent No. 3-Scrutiny Committee were the same and Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee recorded the identical indings and gave identical reasons invalidating the tribe claim of the Petitioner and his siblings. The impugned Order is subsequent to the orders of the Respondent No.3- Scrutiny Committee passed in the matters of the Petitioner's brother and sister. This aspect is not disputed. 7. The perusal of the common order dated 24th June 2026 passed by this Court in the aforesaid writ petition shows that, after hearing both the sides and considering the material on record, this Court allowed the said writ petition and directed issuance of the validity certiicates in favour of the Petitioner's brother and sister. This being the undisputed factual position, the Petitioner cannot be deprived of the validity certiicate towards the ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe. Hence, the following order: ORDER a) The Writ Petition is allowed. b) The impugned order dated 3rd October, 2024 passed by Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee is quashed and set aside. Harish 4 of 5 WP-3029-2025-1.doc c) The Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee is directed to issue the validity certiicate to the Petitioner as belonging to the ‘Thakar’-Scheduled Tribe within a period of two (2) weeks. 8. The Writ Petition stands disposed of accordingly. [Neeraj P. Dhote, J.] [Sharmila U. Deshmukh, J.] Harish 5 of 5