Maharashtra gives SC, VJ, NT and SBC CAP admits three more months for caste validity

The State Common Entrance Test Cell, Maharashtra, has circulated a 04.09.2026 important notice giving reserved-category candidates with confirmed 2026-27 professional-course admissions more time to submit caste validity certificates. The notice rests on Maharashtra Government, Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, circular No. CBC-2025/Pra.Kra.131/Mavak dated 04 September 2026. For Scheduled Caste (SC), Vimukta Jati (VJ), Nomadic Tribes (NT) and Special Backward Class (SBC) candidates whose admissions are confirmed, the circular grants a three-month extension from its date to submit the caste validity certificate.

This is a document-submission relief for already admitted reserved-category students. It is not the MBA/MMS institute-quota and post-CAP vacant-seat admission round that runs from 8 to 15 September 2026 on the CET Cell management schedule. Keep the caste-validity clock separate from any institute-level vacant-seat application window.

Who gets three months, and who already had six

The Social Justice circular of 04.09.2026 covers candidates admitted to engineering, medical and other professional courses in educational institutions for academic year 2026-27. The three-month extension from 04.09.2026 applies to SC, VJ, NT and SBC candidates who must submit a caste validity certificate. The CET Cell notice tells colleges that such candidates must obtain the certificate within that window and submit it to the concerned college or institution. Colleges must counsel candidates about the extension and record and verify the certificate once received.

SEBC and OBC candidates sit on a different earlier track. General Administration Department Government Resolution No. Sankirn-2024/Pra.Kra.75 (Part-1)/Aarakshan-5 dated 02.07.2026 had already given SEBC and OBC candidates whose 2026-27 professional admissions are confirmed six months from the date of application for admission to submit the caste validity certificate. The 04.09.2026 Social Justice circular expressly recalls that six-month SEBC/OBC relief and then adds the fresh three-month relief for SC, VJ, NT and SBC. Do not merge the two clocks into one statewide date.

The Social Justice circular also states that the three-month period is a final opportunity and that no further extension will be granted after it. Candidates and colleges should diary the end of that three-month stretch from 04.09.2026 rather than waiting for another circular.

What colleges must not cancel, and which CAP rounds are covered

Where a candidate has applied for a caste validity certificate and has submitted the application receipt, the CET Cell notice says the admission granted on the basis of that receipt should not be cancelled merely because the validity certificate itself has not yet arrived, so long as the candidate is within the three-month submission window granted by the 04.09.2026 circular. Those candidates are to get the benefit of the three months allowed under Social Justice circular CBC-2025/Pra.Kra.131/Mavak.

The same CET Cell notice extends that instruction across CAP Round-I, Round-II and Round-III admits. Related candidates who took admission in those rounds must submit the caste validity certificate within the extended period. Colleges are told not to cancel such admissions contrary to the government circular, and to complete the required entry and verification after the certificate is received.

Practical next steps for a covered candidate are to track the caste validity application, keep the receipt that supported the admission, obtain the certificate inside the three-month window from 04.09.2026, and submit it to the admitted college without waiting for a further public reminder. Practical next steps for colleges are to inform covered admits, avoid premature cancellation where a receipt is on file inside the window, and update records when the certificate arrives.

The CET Cell notice is signed for the Commissioner and Competent Authority, Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test Cell, Mumbai. The underlying Social Justice circular is available on https://www.maharashtra.gov.in with computer code 202609041439167022 as printed on the PDF. The CET Cell upload used for this desk is https://cetcell.mahacet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Cicular_CVC_submission.pdf.

Circular CBC-2025/Pra.Kra.131/Mavak dated 04.09.2026, as carried by the CET Cell important notice of the same day, is the three-month caste validity submission relief for SC, VJ, NT and SBC CAP admits in 2026-27 professional courses. SEBC and OBC remain on the earlier six-month-from-application track. That document clock, not the MBA/MMS 8-15 September institute vacant-seat round, is the story.