Leaving Out Scheduled Tribes From Caste-Validity Extension Prima Facie Discriminatory: Bombay High Court Protects Admission

The petitioner secured admission to a B.Sc. Honors Agriculture course for 2026-27 against a seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category and submitted her tribe-claim proposal for verification on 30 March 2026, but the Caste Scrutiny Committee had not decided it; the last date to submit the certificate was the day of the hearing, 4 September 2026 (paras 2-3). She sought protection of her admission and three months to submit the Tribe Validity certificate (para 2). Her counsel contended that circulars extending time only to specific categories had been held discriminatory, citing Ishwari Vinod Salunkhe v. State CET Cell and Daulatrao Narayan Yamalwad v. State of Maharashtra (para 4).

A Government Circular of 4 September 2026 extended the time by three months for Scheduled Caste, Nomadic Tribes, V.J. & N.T., Other Backward Class and Special Backward Class candidates, without mentioning Scheduled Tribes (para 5). The Bench saw no reason why the time should not be extended identically for an ST student and said the non-inclusion "is prima facie, discriminatory" (para 5). Because the circular covers all reserved categories except Scheduled Tribes, it formed the prima facie opinion that the benefit should be extended to them too (para 5). As her admission was secured and her claim was pending before the Scrutiny Committee, the petitioner, applying the circular, is entitled to three months to submit the caste validity certificate (para 5).