The Bombay High Court has held that a caste scrutiny committee may seek a fresh vigilance examination when material before it raises genuine doubts about a document or earlier inquiry.
In Rupali Shigwan v State of Maharashtra, decided on 5 October 2026, the Court sustained the committee’s invalidation order and the resulting disqualification. It found that the claim relied on a fabricated document and a tampered genealogy, making renewed scrutiny justified.
The judgment treats the committee’s power to verify evidence as inherent to its statutory task, rather than confined to accepting an initial vigilance report. The Court also urged the State to frame rules or standard procedures for the recently introduced appellate mechanism in caste-certificate disputes.