Setting aside the orders of the Bombay High Court, the bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Manmohan allowed the appeals as per its earlier rulings in Ajay Dattatraya Bandewad v State of Maharashtra & Ors and Mrudula v State of Maharashtra & Ors.

The appellant was a pharmacy student at an institution affiliated to Sant Gadge Baba Amaravati University in 2014-15 under the ST category. When the college informed her that she was eligible for admission from the open category, she deposited fees commensurate with an open category student and completed her degree in 2018.

However, the Caste Scrutiny Committee rejected her caste certificate in 2017, for failure to furnish material substantiating her claim. Consequently, the University withheld her 6th and 8th semester marksheets and degree certificate.

The appellant filed a petition before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, challenging the Scrutiny Committee's order. The High Court dismissed the petition in 2022, holding that she had failed to prove that she belonged to the Gond tribe despite being given an opportunity. It was also held that her admission could not be converted to the open category under the applicable Directorate of Technical Education rules.

Subsequent to this, the Principal of the college issued a no-objection certificate, stating that the appellant was admitted in the open category, had paid all fees, and that her withheld documents could accordingly be released. Consequently, the appellant served a legal notice upon the University seeking release of her documents, marksheets, and degree certificate. However, the University did not act on this. The appellant approached the High Court again, which held that her claim already stood, concluded by its 2022 order which had attained finality. It was also held that the Principal was not the authority who had granted her admission and that having taken admission under the ST category while choosing to pay open-category fees did not entitle her to relief.

The impugned orders of the High Court were challenged before the Supreme Court. Relying on Ajay Dattatraya Bandewad v State of Maharashtra & Ors and Mrudula v State of Maharashtra & Ors, the bench directed the University to declare the result of the appellant's 6th and 8th semester examinations, and to issue her degree certificate, if she is found to have qualified. The Court also directed the University to return all her original testimonials.

While granting relief, the Court clarified that the appellant “shall not place any reliance whatsoever on the certificate indicating that she belongs to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category which has in any case been cancelled by the competent authority as being invalid in law in respect of her future studies or public employment.” It further directed that she shall “not take any step to seek a fresh certificate” on the ground that she belongs to the ST category.

In the light of above, the appeals were disposed of.

Case Title: Cynthia Julious Charlie v The Vice Chancellor & Ors
Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 827

Appearance:

Advocates for Appellant: Mr Kshitij Kothale, Mr. Sachin Singh, Mr. Pratik Kumar Singh, Mr. Shashank Upadhyay, Mr. Vishwesh Shankar Gadage, Ms. Anagha S. Desai (AOR)

Advocates for Respondents: Mr. Avnish Singh, Ms. Pushplata Singh, Mr. Ankur Yadav (AOR), Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande (AOR)