The Bombay High Court has held that benefits granted on the basis of a caste certificate cannot be withdrawn until 30 days after rejection of an appeal challenging its invalidation by the Scrutiny Committee. The Court, relying on Section 10(5) of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000, directed that the benefits granted to the Petitioner could not be withdrawn while his appeal against invalidation of his Tribe Certificate was pending.

A division bench of Justice R.I. Chagla and Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla was hearing a writ petition filed by the petitioner seeking urgent relief as September 7, 2026 was the last date for submitting his Tribe Validity Certificate for admission to the Civil Engineering course at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai. The State CET Cell had not cancelled his allotment as of the date of the order. The Petitioner informed the Court that he had filed an appeal challenging the order dated September 1, 2026 passed by the Scheduled Tribe Certificate Verification Committee.

The Court referred to its earlier order dated September 3, 2026, where it had considered a Government Resolution dated July 2, 2026 granting candidates belonging to SEBC and OBC categories six months from the date of admission to submit Caste Validity Certificates. The Court had noted that no reasons were given as to why the same benefit should not be granted to Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Vimukta Jatis and Nomadic Tribes.

The Court directed the State CET Cell to consider the Petitioner's admission to the Civil Engineering course at VJTI and grant provisional admission without insisting upon submission of the Tribe Validity Certificate.

Considering Section 10(5) of the Maharashtra Caste Certificate Act, 2000, the Court noted that after a Caste Certificate is cancelled and confiscated by the Scrutiny Committee, the concerned Appointing Authority and other Authorities are to take action for withdrawal of benefits given to such person within 30 days from the date of the order of the Appellate Authority, if an appeal is filed and rejected by the Appellate Authority. It accordingly held:

“… as an Appeal has been filed, and hence the benefits given to such person by the Caste Certificate on its invalidation cannot be withdrawn till thirty days from rejection of the Appeal of the Petitioner by the Appellate Authority.”

The ad-interim order was made subject to the outcome of the writ petition, and the Court clarified that no equity could be claimed by the Petitioner by virtue of the interim order.

The writ petition was listed for further consideration on October 6, 2026.

Case Title: Vivek s/o Prakash Padalwar v. The State of Maharashtra [Writ Petition No. 11965 of 2026]

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