Bombay High Court
KU.PRANITA VINAYAKRAO SHANKHPAL(THAKUR)versusCOMMITTEE FOR SCRUTINY andVERIFICATION OF TRIBE CLAIMS,
- Decided
- Disposal
- Allowed
- Bench
- M S KARNIKS M MODAK
Holding
The petition is allowed; the petitioner is declared to belong to the Thakur Scheduled Tribe and the Scrutiny Committee must issue her validity certificate.
Summary
The petitioner, a student claiming membership in the Thakur Scheduled Tribe, challenged the Scrutiny Committee's invalidation of her caste claim. She submitted an affidavit showing that her siblings had been validated as Thakur tribe members by the Committee following a prior court order. The Court examined whether the petitioner could rely on the validity certificates issued to her close blood relatives, applying the three‑prerequisite test laid down by the Supreme Court in Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti and the principle from Apoorva v. Divisional Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee. The genealogy presented, verified by the Vigilance Cell, was accepted as proof of relationship. Consequently, the Court quashed the impugned order, declared the petitioner a member of the Thakur Scheduled Tribe, and directed the Committee to issue her validity certificate within four weeks. The writ petition was disposed of in the petitioner’s favour.
Issues considered
- Whether a caste claim can be validated on the basis of validity certificates issued to close blood relatives.
- Whether the Scrutiny Committee’s earlier rejection of the petitioner’s claim should be remanded for further verification.
- Whether the genealogy and Vigilance Cell verification satisfy the requirements for establishing a clear relationship with the validated relatives.
Subjects
- caste verification
- Scheduled Tribe
- validity certificate
- Scrutiny Committee
- genealogy
- Supreme Court precedent
- tribal status
- writ petition
Judgment
2026:BHC-AS:32434-FB
Bhogale 5.wp-9727-2007.odt
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.9727 OF 2007
Ku. Pranita Vinayakrao Shankhpal
(Thakur) aged about 26 yrs, Occ. Student
r/o Vakratund Apartments, 2nd Floor,
Amrut Nagar, Jalamb Road, Khamgaon,
Taluka Khamgaon, District Buldana … Petitioner
Versus
Committee for Scrutiny & Verification
of Tribe Claims, Amravati,
Near Irwin Chowk, Morshi Road,
Amravati .… Respondent
****
Adv. Sahil Choudhari h/f Adv. Sushant Yeramwar, for the
petitioner.
Mr. N. C. Walimbe, Addl.G.P. a/w Smt. V. R. Raje, AGP for the
respondent-State.
****
CORAM : M. S. KARNIK &
S. M. MODAK, JJ.
DATE : 6th AUGUST 2026
ORAL JUDGMENT (PER M. S. KARNIK, J.) :
1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
2. The caste claim of the petitioner as belonging to ‘Thakur’
Scheduled Tribe has been invalidated by the Scrutiny Committee.
Learned Additional Government Pleader opposed the submissions
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Bhogale 5.wp-9727-2007.odt
of learned counsel for the petitioner and argued in support of the
impugned order. However, the petitioner during the pendency of
this writ petition, has filed an affidavit dated 4 th January 2026,
stating that the caste claim of the petitioner’s real sisters viz.
Seema Vinayak Shankhpal and Jyoti Vinayak Shankhpal, as well
the real brother viz. Prashant Vinayak Shankhpal has been
validated by the Scrutiny Committee pursuant to the order passed
by this Court in Writ Petition No.2728 of 2022 vide order dated
18th March 2024.
3. Learned Additional Government Pleader for the
respondent then submitted that the matter be remitted to the
Scrutiny Committee for verification of the relationship of the
petitioner with Seema Vinayak Shankhpal, Jyoti Vinayak
Shankhpal and Prashant Vinayak Shankhpal. However, we find
that a remand is not warranted considering that the petitioner has
produced on record the genealogy. The genealogy is taken on
record and marked as Exhibit “X” for identification. The said
genealogy relied upon by the petitioner was part of the
proceedings of the caste verification claim of her sister Jyoti,
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Bhogale 5.wp-9727-2007.odt
wherein even the petitioner’s name has been indicated as her
sister. The genealogy has been verified by the Vigilance Cell.
4. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Maharashtra Adiwasi
Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti vs. State of Maharashtra and
Others1 held that the following three prerequisites have to be
satisfied while giving weightage to the certificate of validity issued
in favour of the close blood relative:-
(i) The applicant must establish a clear and specific
relationship with the person in whose favour the validity
certificate has been issued;
(ii) The Scrutiny Committee must verify whether the
validity certificate was granted to the applicant’s blood
relative after due enquiry and in accordance with prescribed
procedure; and
(iii) The Scrutiny Committee must ascertain the
genuineness of the validity certificate relied upon.
5. This Court in Apoorva d/o Vinay Nichale vs. Divisional
Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee No.1 and others2 has, in
paragraph 4 held thus :-
“4. We have considered the matter and we are of the
view that the petitioner's caste claim that she belongs to
Kanjar Bhat-Nomadic Tribe ought to have been accepted by
the Committee merely on the basis that identical caste claim
of her sister that she belongs to Kanjar Bhat has been allowed
by the Committee, even apart from the Government
Resolution. We are of the opinion that the guidelines
1 (2023) 16 SCC 415
2 2010(6) Mh.L.J. 401
3
Bhogale 5.wp-9727-2007.odt
provided by the said Govt. Resolution are sound and based on
sound principles. It would indeed be chaotic otherwise. If the
relationship by blood is established or not doubted, and one
such relative has been confirmed as belonging to a particular
caste, there is no reason why public time or money should be
spent in the committee testing the same evidence and making
the same conclusion unless of course the Committee finds on
the evidence that the validity of the certificate of such
relation has been obtained by fraud.”
1.
5. Since the close blood relatives of the petitioner have been
issued with certificates of validity, even the present writ petition
also deserves to succeed. The writ petition is allowed.
The impugned order is quashed and set aside. It is declared that
the petitioner has proved that she belongs to ‘Thakur’ Scheduled
Tribe. The Scrutiny Committee is directed to issue the validity
certificate to the petitioner within a period of four weeks from the
date of receipt of this order.
6. The writ petition is disposed of.
(S. M. MODAK, J.) (M. S. KARNIK, J.)
Signed by: Pradnya Bhogale
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 06/08/2026 19:44:06 4
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