907-wp-11962-2026.doc jsn IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.11962 OF 2026 Sakharam S/o. Raghoba Boyane ...Petitioner Versus The State of Maharashtra & Ors. ...Respondents ---------- Mr. G.K. Chinchole with Mr. Ratan Adhe for the Petitioner. Mr. Asif I. Patel, Addl. G.P. with Mr. V.M. Mali, AGP for the State. Mr. Nikhil Chavan for the Respondent No.2 – CET Cell. ---------- CORAM : R.I. CHAGLA AND FIRDOSH P. POONIWALLA, JJ. DATE : 8TH SEPTEMBER, 2026. O R D E R: 1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard by consent of the parties. 2. The learned Counsel for the Petitioner has sought leave to amend the Writ Petition by deleting respondent No. 3 as party Respondents, as well as prayer Clause (e) in the Petition. 3. Leave is granted. Accordingly amendment shall be carried out in the course of today. Re-verification is dispensed 1/4 JITENDRA SHANKAR NIJASURE Digitally signed by JITENDRA SHANKAR NIJASURE Date: 2026.09.08 19:10:17 +0530 907-wp-11962-2026.doc with. 4. This Petition has been moved on the ground of urgency in view of the Petitioner being unable to submit the Tribe Validity Certificate by the stipulated date for CAP Round 2 of NEET-UG 2026, by virtue of Respondent No. 3 - Scrutiny Committee not having decided the Tribe Validity Claim of the Petitioner though the claim was filed on 7th May 2025. 5. A similar Petition had been filed before this Court, being Writ Petition No. 11628 of 2026, and an order dated 3rd September 2026 came to be passed, wherein this Court considered the Government Resolution dated 2nd July 2026, whereby the Respondent State has granted a period of six months to SEBC and OBC for the submission of the Caste Validity Certificate. This Court has followed the view taken by this Court (Nagpur Bench) in its order dated 24th August 2026 viz. that there were no reasons given as to why such benefit of a six-month period should not be granted to other categories, viz. Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Vimukta Jatis, and 2/4 907-wp-11962-2026.doc Nomadic Tribes. This Court observed that there were several cases coming up before this Court wherein the claim made was that the Scrutiny Committee takes an inordinate period of time for deciding the caste validity claims, resulting in several Petitions being filed before this Court. 6. By the order dated 3rd September 2026, this Court founded it appropriate that, in the interest of students, the Respondent State be directed to take a decision on making the Government Resolution dated 2nd July 2026 applicable to other categories, including Scheduled Tribes. 7. In the present case, the Petitioner having filed his claim way back on 7th May 2025 for the validity of his Tribe Certificate, and the same not having been considered, we consider it appropriate to direct Respondent No. 3 - Scrutiny Committee to decide the claim of the Petitioner within a period of three months from the date of this order. This is upon considering that, by a subsequent Government Resolution dated 4th September 2026, the Respondent State has extended the 3/4 907-wp-11962-2026.doc benefit of Government Resolution dated 2nd July 2026 by revising the period from six months to three months to other categories, by leaving out Scheduled Tribes for the submission of their Caste Validity Certificate. 8. The Respondent No. 2 - State CET Cell shall consider the Petitioner from the Scheduled Tribe category in CAP Round 2 of NEET-UG 2026 without insisting upon the submission of the Tribe Validity Certificate, as the tribe validity claim of the Petitioner is pending before the Respondent No.3 - Scrutiny Committee. 9. This shall be subject to the Petitioner’s tribe validity claim being decided in his favor by Respondent No. 3 - Scrutiny Committee. 10. The Writ Petition is disposed of in these terms. No order as to costs. [ FIRDOSH P. POONIWALLA, J. ] [ R.I. CHAGLA J. ] 4/4