Inter-State Caste Certificates Verification in Maharashtra
Judgment dated 1.9.2026 of the High Court of Bombay, Bench at Nagpur, in Writ Peittion No.7522 of 2022 of Vijaykumar Sonkusare and others Vs. Executive Director, Food Corporation of India and others
Verification of out-of-State Caste Certificate – Rule 12 of 2012 Rules
Rule 14 of Maharashtra Rules of 2012 & Verification of Caste Certificate issued by another State
Employees of Inter-State Caste Certificate Verification Cannot be left remediless
Rule 14 of the Rules 2012 – Verification of Caste Certificates issued by another State
Employees appointed and continued for decades on the basis of caste certificates issued by another State cannot be rendered remediless by refusal of both States to undertake caste verification; Rule 14 of the Rules, 2012 must be interpreted in a manner that provides an effective mechanism for such verification
The petitioners were appointed in 1996 and 1997 in the food Corporation of India on different reserved posts on the condition of producing caste certificates. After confirmation, they were promoted.
After 20 years of service, the petitioners were asked to produce caste validity certificates of the Scrutiny Committee.
The Commissioner of Tribal Development, Ahmedabad, asked the petitioners to approach the Scrutiny Committees since they are from the State of Maharashtra. However, the Scrutiny Committee Nagpur returned the applications of the petitioners on the ground that their caste certificates were issued by the State of Gujarat.
The petitioners, therefore, filed writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 (for short the “Act of 2000”) and Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Rules, 2012 (for short the “Rules of 2012”)
