Authority: Bombay High Court, Civil Appellate Jurisdiction

Order Date: 6 October 2026

Case Overview

  • Petition No. 13254 of 2026 filed by Bhimashankar Lingoji Jawadawad (Petitioner) against the State of Maharashtra and others (Respondents).
  • Petitioner seeks direction to the State CET Cell to allow provisional admission to the First Year LL.B. (3‑Year) course at ILS Law College, Pune, under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) seat, without producing a Tribe Validity Certificate at this stage.
  • Petitioner was issued a Tribe Certificate dated 23 October 2024 for the Mannervarlu ST and submitted a verification request to the Scheduled Tribes Certificate Scrutiny Committee, Kinwat on 29 November 2024; the Committee has not yet decided the claim.
  • He appeared for the LL.B. CET 2026, secured a 22.55 percentile, and his application recorded the ST category.
  • The State CET Cell’s online CAP application required ST candidates without a certificate to upload a receipt and submit the certificate before the last date of admission confirmation.
  • Government Resolution (GR) dated 2 July 2026 extended the time for submission of Caste Validity Certificates by six months for OBC and SEBC categories only; a subsequent Circular dated 4 September 2026 extended the time by three months for reserved categories other than ST.
  • The petitioner was allotted an ST seat in the second Merit List of the institutional level round for the academic year 2026‑2027 at ILS Law College.
  • On 4 October 2026, petitioner emailed ILS Law College requesting time to obtain directions from the CET Cell; the college had earlier (3 Oct 2026) insisted that the Tribe Validity Certificate was compulsory at admission.
  • Counsel for petitioner, Mr. Sahil Chaudhari, referenced the Court’s consistent view in Writ Petition No. 12108 of 2026 (order dated 10 September 2026) that where a Tribe Validity Claim is pending for a substantial period, the CET Cell must consider the candidate as ST without insisting on the certificate, relying on the July and September GRs.
  • Respondent No.2 (State CET Cell) argued that all CAP rounds had concluded, the institutional level round ran from 26‑28 September 2026, and candidates were required to submit the certificate by 24‑28 September 2026; failure would result in conversion of the category to Open.
  • The Court noted that the seat remained vacant, the petitioner’s claim was pending, and the petitioner had undertaken to approach the Aurangabad Bench (jurisdiction over the Scrutiny Committee) for a time‑bound decision.

Final Outcome

1. The Court directs the State CET Cell to permit the petitioner to secure provisional admission to the First Year LL.B. (3‑Year) course at ILS Law College, Pune, against the ST seat, without insisting on production of the Tribe Validity Certificate, subject to the final outcome of the petitioner’s certificate claim before the Scrutiny Committee.

2. The petitioner must file a petition before the Aurangabad Bench seeking directions for deciding the pending Tribe Validity Claim.

3. The writ petition is disposed of in these terms; no order as to costs.

Topics: Legal Admission, Reservation Policy