901-WP-3989-2026-J.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIRCUIT BENCH AT KOLHAPUR CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 3989 OF 2026 Bhakti Mukund Parchande, Age: 19 Years, Occ:Student R/At/P- Natepute, Tal- Malshiras, Dist- Solapur, 413109. ...Petitioner. Versus 1. The State of Maharashtra Through Secretary, Cultural & Social Welfare Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai- 32. 2. State Common Entrance Test Cell, Mumbai. O/At: 8th Floor, New Excelsior Building, A. K. Nayak Marg, Fort, Mumbai-400001. 3. Schedule Tribe Certiicate Scrutiny Committee, CVC Pune, Pune Division 5th Floor, C Wing, Kapil Towers, Pune-411 001. 4. Government College Of Engineering, Kolhapur O/At: University Road (Old Pune- Bangalore Road) Vidyanagar, Kolhapur-416004 ...Respondents. —————— Mr. Satish S. Raut with Mr. Shubham Gangan, Mr. Ashitosh Jambilkar, Adv. Prajakt Kamble & Mr. Omkar Koratkar, for the Petitioners. Mr. R. P. Kadam, ‘B’ Panel Counsel, for the Respondent Nos.1 & 3-State. Mr. Nagesh Chavan with Mr. Abhang M. Suryawanshi, for the Respondent No.2- CET. —————— Gaikwad RD 1 of 4 901-WP-3989-2026-J.doc Coram : Sharmila U. Deshmukh & Neeraj P. Dhote, JJ. Date : September 04, 2026. JUDGMENT : (Per Neeraj P. Dhote, J.) 1. Heard the learned Counsel for the Petitioner and the learned AGP for the Respondents inally at the admission stage. 2. This petition is iled for directions to the Respondent No.3- Scrutiny Committee to decide the claim of the Petitioner towards the ‘Koli Mahadev’ Scheduled Tribe. 3. The Petitioner is the student and pursuing the degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Kolhapur. She is having the caste certiicate issued by the Competent Authority as belonging to the ‘Koli Mahadev’ Scheduled Tribe. Her caste certiicate is referred for veriication to Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee and the same is pending for consideration. 4. It is submitted by learned Counsel for the Petitioner that, this Court in Writ Petition No.4340 of 2026 iled by the Petitioner’s brother, Harshad Mukund Parchande, set aside the order of the Scrutiny Committee invalidating the tribe claim towards the ‘Koli Mahadev’ and directed issuance of Validity Certiicate. Therefore, the Respondent No. 3-Scrutiny Committee be directed to issue the tribe certiicate to the Petitioner as belonging to the ‘Koli Mahadev’ Scheduled Tribe. 5. The learned AGP appearing for Respondent Nos.1 and 3 do not Gaikwad RD 2 of 4 901-WP-3989-2026-J.doc dispute that this Court in the aforesaid writ petition set aside the order of invalidation of the tribe claim of the Petitioner’s brother and submit that appropriate order may be passed. 6. In the said writ petition, which is on today’s board, the order impugned was dated 28th August 2026 passed by the Scrutiny Committee invalidating the tribe claim as belonging to the ‘Koli Mahadev’ of the Petitioner’s brother is set aside. The tribe claim of the Petitioner’s brother was also referred to the Scrutiny Committee and the Scrutiny Committee had directed vigilance inquiry and had invalidated his claim. This Court, on going through the record, found the pre-Constitution era document of the cousin grandfather of the Petitioner, wherein the caste was mentioned as ‘Koli Mahadev’ and this Court set aside the said order of the Scrutiny Committee and directed issuance of the validity certiicate to the Petitioner’s brother. 7. As there is no dispute that the Petitioner is the sister of Harshad Mukund Parchande, who is the Petitioner in Writ Petition No.4340 of 2026, which is allowed, the Petitioner becomes entitle for validity certiicate as belonging to the ‘Koli Mahadev’ Scheduled Tribe, on the settled principal that, once a blood relative holds a valid certiicate of Caste/Tribe Validity, the other blood relatives may be granted the validity. Gaikwad RD 3 of 4 901-WP-3989-2026-J.doc 8. Thus, in the backdrop of the above observations, we allow the petition and pass the following order: ORDER (i) The Writ Petition is allowed. (ii) The Respondent No.3-Scrutiny Committee shall issue the Validity Certiicate to the Petitioner as belonging to the ‘Koli Mahadev’ Scheduled Tribe by 7th September 2026 before 2:00 p.m. (iii) The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. [Neeraj P. Dhote, J.] [Sharmila U. Deshmukh, J.] Gaikwad RD 4 of 4 RAJU DATTATRAYA GAIKWAD Digitally signed by RAJU DATTATRAYA GAIKWAD Date: 2026.09.04 20:01:22 +0530