The Bombay High Court has referred to a larger Bench the question of whether caste scrutiny committees under the Maharashtra Caste Certificate Act, 2000, can recall their own orders if caste validity certificates were obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, or suppression of material facts.
The referral was made by a Division Bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Y.G. Khobragade at the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court on August 4, 2025. The court was hearing petitions filed by Santosh Anil Kolhe, Sham Anil Kolhe, Sharad Arunrao Kolhe, and Balaji Arunrao Kolhe, all residents of Jamb village in Nanded district, who challenged the cancellation of their caste validity certificates by the Kinwat-based Scheduled Tribe Certificate Scrutiny Committee, headquartered at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
The committee revoked their certificates on May 15, 2025, citing fraud and suppression of relevant facts.
The petitioners, represented by Advocate Pratap V. Jadhavar, argued that scrutiny committees do not have the statutory authority to review or recall their decisions. They relied on judgments such as Rakesh Bhimashankar Umbarje v. State of Maharashtra and Bharat Nagu Garud v. State of Maharashtra, where the High Court had held that once a validity certificate is issued, the committee becomes functus officio and that only the High Court under Article 226 can interfere.
