Bombay High Court
RUDRAKSH HEMANT KOREversusSTATE OF MAHARASHTRA THR SEC. TRIBAL DEV. DEPT. AND ORS
- Decided
- Disposal
- Disposed Off
Holding
The Court held that the Scrutiny Committee must decide the petitioner’s validity certificate application within two weeks, the Vigilance Cell report is dispensed with, and the State CET Cell shall not cancel the admission pending that decision.
Summary
The petitioner, a Scheduled Tribe candidate, sought a direction for the Scrutiny Committee to promptly decide his application for a caste validity certificate required for admission to Vidya Pratishthan's College of Agriculture Biotechnology, Pune. He had been provisionally admitted based on earlier certificates granted to his relatives but could not submit the certificate before the 4 September deadline. The Scrutiny Committee had referred the matter to the Vigilance Cell, but the petitioner argued that the vigilance report could be dispensed with. The Court ordered the Scrutiny Committee to decide the application within two weeks, directing that the Vigilance Cell report be omitted, and directed the State CET Cell not to cancel the petitioner’s admission pending the decision. The order was modeled on a prior decision in Varad Jayawant Patil (Minor) through Father Jayawant Patil v. State of Maharashtra. The writ petition was thereafter disposed.
Issues considered
- Whether the Scrutiny Committee can be compelled to decide the caste validity certificate application within a specified period.
- Whether the Vigilance Cell inquiry report can be dispensed with in the proceedings before the Scrutiny Committee.
- Whether the State CET Cell can be restrained from cancelling the petitioner’s provisional admission pending the certificate.
Subjects
- caste validity certificate
- Scheduled Tribe
- admission
- interim relief
- Scrutiny Committee
- State CET Cell
- vigilance inquiry
- writ petition
- Maharashtra
Judgment
903-wp-10956-2026.doc
jsn
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.10956 OF 2026
Kum. Rudraksh Hemant Kore ...Petitioner
JITENDRA
SHANKAR
NIJASURE
Digitally signed by
Versus
JITENDRA SHANKAR
NIJASURE
Date: 2026.09.02
14:52:21 +0530
State of Maharashtra & Ors. ...Respondents
----------
Mr. R.K. Mendadkar, Mr. Siddhant Sawai and Mr. Jagdish Kawale for
the Petitioner.
Mrs. Kavita Solunke, Addl. G.P. with Mr. S.H. Kankal, AGP for the
State.
Mr. Nikhil Chavan, for Respondent No.3.
----------
CORAM : R.I. CHAGLA AND
FIRDOSH P. POONIWALLA, JJ.
DATE : 1ST SEPTEMBER, 2026.
O R D E R:
1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard by consent
of parties.
2. By this Petition, the Petitioner is seeking a direction to
Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee to forthwith decide the
application of the Petitioner, which had been made on 5th February
2026, for grant of validity certificate in accordance with law.
3. The urgency for moving the present Petition is that the
Petitioner has been granted provisional admission in Vidya
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Pratishthan's College of Agriculture Biotechnology, Pune and is
required to submit the caste validity certificate through Respondent
No. 3 (State CET Cell) by 4th September 2026.
4. The Petitioner has placed reliance upon the validity
certificates granted to the Petitioner's paternal blood relatives, which
includes the Petitioner's cousin sister, Mayuri Umakant Kore, on 21st
April 2014, and Petitioner's cousin uncles, viz. Umakant Dagdu Kore
and Namakant Dagdu Kore, on 28th January 2010, following due
process of law.
5. The Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee has referred
the case of the Petitioner to the Vigilance Cell for carrying out
requisite inquiry, and the report is awaited.
6. Mr. Mendadkar, the learned Counsel for the Petitioner on
instructions, states that the Vigilance Cell report may be dispensed
with in the proceedings before the Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny
Committee. The statement is accepted.
7. The Petitioner is stated to have appeared for MHT-CET
Provisional list of admission to the Undergraduate Course in
Agriculture 2026–2027, the results of which had been declared on
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15th June 2026. Thereafter, he has participated in CAP for admission
to the said Undergraduate Agriculture and Allied Courses 2026 under
the Scheduled Tribe category. He has, during the CAP round process,
being allotted Vidya Pratishthan's College of Agriculture
Biotechnology, Pune through Respondent No. 3 State CET Cell.
8. Considering that the Petitioner is unable to submit the
caste validity certificate prior to 4th September 2026, we are of the
view that till Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee decides the
application of the Petitioner for grant of validity certificate and for a
period of one week thereafter, Respondent No. 3 - State CET Cell is
required to be directed not to cancel the admission of the Petitioner
in the aforesaid institute.
9. Accordingly, we pass a similar order as passed by this
Bench in Varad Jayawant Patil (Minor) through Father Jayawant Patil
vs. State of Maharashtra & Others1.
10. Hence, the following Order:-
(i) Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee is directed to decide
the case of the Petitioner for grant of validity certificate within a
1 Writ Petition No. 10697 of 2026, order dated 27th August 2026
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period of two weeks from the date of this order.
(ii) The Vigilance Cell inquiry report has been dispensed with
by the Petitioner and, accordingly, Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny
Committee shall not wait for the Vigilance Cell inquiry report and
shall decide the claim of the petitioner for grant of validity
certificate within the aforesaid timeline.
(iii) Respondent No. 3 - State CET Cell shall not cancel the
admission of the Petitioner granted in the aforesaid Institute till
the decision of Respondent No. 2 - Scrutiny Committee, and in the
event the decision is adverse, two weeks from the decision due to
non-submission of certificate of validity before the cut-off date.
11. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of in the above
terms. There shall be no order as to costs.
12. The parties to act on an authenticated copy of this order.
[ FIRDOSH P. POONIWALLA, J. ] [ R.I. CHAGLA J. ]
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