Rajendra Dayaram Alias Dayanand Birhari vs the State of Maharashtra through Its Secretary and Others — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Rajendra Dayaram Alias Dayanand Birhari vs the State of Maharashtra through Its Secretary and Others — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Impugned order dated 10.12.2024 of respondent No.2/Scrutiny Committee, Dhule quashed and set aside; matter remanded to the Scrutiny Committee to decide afresh in accordance with law and on its own merits; petitioner directed to extend full co-operation and to appear before the Committee on 10.02.2026 at 11.00 a.m.; with these directions the writ petition stands disposed of.

Issue for consideration

Whether the order dated 10.12.2024 of the Scrutiny Committee, Dhule disposing of the petitioner's tribe claim verification proposal for failure to co-operate ought to be quashed and the matter remanded for a fresh decision on merits with proper opportunity to establish the tribe claim.

Ratio / Principle

Since the matter is one of social status, in the interest of justice the disposal of the tribe claim proposal needed to be remedied by remanding the matter to the Scrutiny Committee so that a decision on merit could be taken by giving the petitioner proper opportunity to establish his tribe claim.

Key takeaways

The writ petition is partly allowed and the impugned order dated 10.12.2024 passed by respondent No.2/Scrutiny Committee, Dhule is quashed and set aside.ratio¶21
The matter is remanded back to the Scrutiny Committee to decide the tribe claim afresh in accordance with law and on its own merits.ratio¶24
The petitioner is directed to extend full co-operation for disposal of his tribe claim.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Tribe claim verification - Scrutiny Committee, Dhule disposed of the petitioner's proposal for verification of his tribe claim by order dated 10.12.2024 because he failed to extend co-operation despite several notices - Petitioner pleaded unavoidable circumstances for losing track of the proceedings and undertook to co-operate and appear on 10.02.2026 at 11.00 a.m. - High Court (Aurangabad Bench; Sandipkumar C. More and Abasaheb D. Shinde, JJ., Per Court) held that since the matter is one of social status, in the interest of justice it needed to be remanded so that a decision on merit could be taken by giving the petitioner proper opportunity to establish his tribe claim - Impugned order quashed and set aside; matter remanded to the Scrutiny Committee for fresh decision in accordance with law and on its own merits; petitioner directed to extend full co-operation and to appear before the Committee on 10.02.2026 at 11.00 a.m. - Rule made returnable forthwith; petition heard at admission stage with consent of parties - Writ petition partly allowed and stands disposed of.

(1)

962 WP-2929.2025.odt

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD

962 WRIT PETITION NO. 2929 OF 2025

RAJENDRA DAYARAM ALIAS DAYANAND BIRHARI VERSUS THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH ITS SECRETARY AND OTHERS

Mr. S.P. Tiwari, Advocate holding for Mr. A.K. Tiwari, Advocate for the petitioner. Mrs. Chaitali R. Choudhari, A.G.P. for respondent Nos.1 and 2.

CORAM : SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE AND ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ.

DATED : 16 JANUARY 2026.

Per Court :

Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. With consent of

the parties, this petition is taken up for hearing at the admission stage.

By this writ petition, the petitioner is challenging the order dated 10.12.2024 passed by the respondent/Scrutiny Committee, Dhule by which the proposal seeking verification of the tribe claim of the petitioner has been disposed of since the petitioner has failed to extend co-operation in deciding the said proposal.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that due to some unavoidable circumstances, the petitioner could not keep track on the said proceedings and now the petitioner is ready

(2)

962 WP-2929.2025.odt

to co-operate to the Scrutiny Committee for early disposal of his tribe claim. He undertakes that the petitioner will appear before the respondent/Scrutiny Committee on 10.02.2026 at 11.00 a.m.

Learned A.G.P. submits that after filing of said proposal seeking verification of the tribe claim, the petitioner failed to extend co-operation and despite the fact that the Scrutiny Committee issued several notices calling upon the petitioner to participate in the proceedings, the petitioner failed to do so and that is why Scrutiny Committee is constrained to dispose of the proceedings filed by the petitioner.

Be that as it may, since it is a mater of social status, we find that in the interest of justice, the matter needs to be remanded back to the Scrutiny Committee, so that the decision on merit could be taken by giving proper opportunity to the petitioner to establish his tribe claim. In that view of the matter, we allow the writ petition partly and pass the following order.

ORDER

(i) Writ petition is partly allowed.

(ii) The impugned order dated 10.12.2024 passed by respondent No.2/Scrutiny Committee, Dhule is quashed and set aside.

(3)

962 WP-2929.2025.odt

(ii) The matter is remanded back to the Scrutiny Committee to decide the same afresh in accordance with law and on its own merits.

(iii) We make it clear that the petitioner shall extend full co-operation for disposal of his tribe claim.

(iv) The petitioner shall appear before the respondent-Scrutiny Committee on 10.02.2026 at 11.00 a.m.

With these directions, the writ petition stands disposed of.

(ABASAHEB D. SHINDE) (SANDIPKUMAR C. MORE) JUDGE JUDGE

VD_Dhirde