107 WP-6431-2026 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR. WRIT PETITION NO.6431 OF 2026 [Angel d/o Ashok Sallamwar ..vs.. State of Maharashtra and Others] ______________________________________________________________________________ Office Notes, Office Memoranda of Coram, appearances, Court's orders of directions Court's or Judge's order and Registrar's orders. Shri. Shubhankar Phadnis, Advocate for Petitioner. Shri. Vinod Thakare, AGP for Respondents/State. CORAM : URMILA JOSHI-PHALKE AND RAJ D. WAKODE, JJ. DATE : 20 th AUGUST, 2026 . . Heard Shri. Shubhankar Phadnis, learned counsel for petitioner. 2. The petitioner - student has approached this Court seeking a direction to respondent No.2 - Scheduled Tribe Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Gadchiroli, to decide the caste claim of the petitioner within a stipulated period and pending such caste claim to protect her admission. 3. The contention is that the petitioner belongs to “Mannewar” Scheduled Tribe. The caste claim of the petitioner was referred to respondent No.2 - Committee on 9th July, 2026. The acknowledgment is at record page No.19 (Annexure - A). During the pendency of the aforesaid caste claim, the petitioner is admitted to First Year of Mining Engineering Course in respondent No.4 - College affiliated to respondent No.3 - University. 4. Shri. Shubhankar Phadnis, learned counsel, has invited our attention to the receipt-cum-acknowledgment of the admission of the petitioner, which is at record page No.50 (Annexure - H). The note thereof reads thus: “Candidates belonging to SC, ST, VJ/DT NT(A), NT(B), NT(C), NT(D), SBC and EWS categories who submitted a receipt for their Caste/Tribe Validity Certificate or Non-Creamy Layer Certificate or EWS Certificate during the CAP registration process must upload and verify their original certificates by visiting a Scrutiny Center. They must then submit these original certificates to admitted institute on or before the final reporting date of the fourth CAP round. Failure to do so will result in the automatic cancellation of their admission. Consequently, such candidates will be considered under the Open category for subsequent Institute-level rounds, provided they fulfill the eligibility criteria for the Open category.” 2026:BHC-NAG:10879-DB 107 WP-6431-2026 2 5. Since the aforesaid note clearly reveals that if the petitioner does not produce the caste validity certificate, the admission of the petitioner shall stand automatically cancelled. In view of the above urgency, the petitioner has approached this Court as the act of deciding her caste claim is beyond the control of the petitioner. 6. Shri. Vinod Thakare, learned Asst. G. P., upon instructions, makes a categorical statement that respondent No.2 - Committee shall decide the caste claim of the petitioner within a period of six months. The statement is accepted. 7. In view of the above, we pass the following order : O R D E R i) Respondent No.2 - Committee shall decide the caste claim of the petitioner towards “Mannewar” Scheduled Tribe within a period of six months from today. ii) The petitioner shall co-operate the respondent No.2 - Committee in the aforesaid process of adjudication and shall not seek any unnecessary adjournment. iii) Respondent Nos.3 and 4 are directed not to take any coercive step against the petitioner only for the reason that the petitioner could not produce the validity certificate till the decision of her caste claim by respondent No.2-Committee. 8. The present writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of. (RAJ D. WAKODE, J.) (URMILA JOSHI-PHALKE, J.) TAMBE. Signed by: Mr. Ashish Tambe Designation: PA To Honourable Judge Date: 20/08/2026 19:35:59