(1) 950 W.P. No. 5323-2021.odt IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD 950 WRIT PETITION NO. 5323 OF 2021 NITIN BABANRAO SHANKPAL VERSUS THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANOTHER ... Advocate for the Petitioner : Mr. Sushant C. Yeramwar AGP for Respondent/State: Mr. V.M. Jaware ... CORAM : SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE AND ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ. DATED : JANUARY 13, 2026 ORDER:- 1. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.G.P. appearing on behalf of the respondent/ Scrutiny Committee as well as State. 2. By the present Writ Petition, the petitioner is taking an exception to the impugned order dated 08.02.2021, passed by the respondent No.2/ Scrutiny Committee, thereby invalidating the caste claim of the petitioner of belonging to “Thakur” Scheduled Tribe. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, on perusal of the genealogy, produced before the Scrutiny Committee, it could be seen that, the cousin uncle of the petitioner, namely Dinesh Bapurao Shankpal has been granted validity by this Court in W.P. No. 4707 of 2021 vide order dated 07.10.2025. 2026:BHC-AUG:1323-DB (2) 950 W.P. No. 5323-2021.odt 4. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that, the daughter of said Dinesh, who is cousin sister of the petitioner namely Disha Dinesh Thakur, whose tribe claim was invalidated by the Scrutiny Committee, had challenged the same by filing Writ Petition No.15304/2023, and this Court, by an order dated 01.08.2024, after considering all the selfsame material granted conditional validity in favour of the close blood relative of the petitioner. He, therefore, urged that the petitioner deserves to be granted conditional validity. 5. Per contra, the learned A.G.P. submits that, the scrutiny committee, while passing the impugned order, has noticed certain interpolations and contra entries, which shows that the petitioner does not belong to “Thakur” Scheduled Tribe. 6. Having considered the rival submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.G.P., we find that once the cousin uncle of the petitioner namely Dinesh Bapurao Thakur has been granted validity by this Court vide order dated 07.10.2025 so also to the cousin sister of the petitioner, namely Disha Dinesh Thakur vide order dated 01.08.2024 in Writ Petition No. 15304 of 2023, we find that the petitioner deserves to be granted conditional validity. 7. In that view of the matter, we pass the following order :- (3) 950 W.P. No. 5323-2021.odt O R D E R (i) The Writ Petition is partly allowed. (ii) The impugned order dated 08.02.2021 passed by respondent No.2/ Scrutiny Committee is hereby quashed and set aside. (iii) Respondent No.2- Committee shall immediately issue tribe validity certificate to the petitioner as belonging to “Thakur” Scheduled Tribe. (iv) The validity shall be subject to the final outcome of the matters which the committee has decided to re-open. (v) The petitioner shall not be entitled to claim equities. (ABASAHEB D. SHINDE) (SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE) JUDGE JUDGE YSK/